CORNWALL – WINTER WONDERLAND

After a fickle autumn down in the West Country, Christmas arrived early when the first major winter swell brought its seasonal greetings to the Cornish Coastline. Steve Thorp must’ve behaved better than anyone this year, receiving the biggest surprise after scoring an epic big wave session at the UK’s most gnarly reef break, the Cribbar off the headland at Fistral. Further down the coast, Timo ‘Turkey’ Mullen, Ian Black and the north coast locals feasted on perfect, peeling waves – from Gwithian all the way down to the Bluff at Hayle. John ‘Scrooge’ Carter tells the story.

Photos JOHN CARTER and DYLAN BURNS

(Some of the images in this feature are unseen shots from the story that originally appeared in the November/December 2012 issue of Windsurf Magazine. Print and digital subscriptions for readers worldwide are available HERE.)

This was one of those rare days when the forecast was calling for pounding surf, gale force south south/west winds and wall-to-wall sunshine. With all the boxes ticked, Cornwall was without doubt ‘the’ place to be. The brunt of the swell was set to hit around midday onwards at low tide which is fabled as the ‘death session’ down at Gwithian. For this reason Steve Thorp had decided to throw in an early diversion to Newquay before venturing down to Gwithian to catch the incoming tide. Thorpy is not one to mince around and as soon as he spotted the Cribbar was sailable he was out there like a shot. You have to give respect to Steve here. To go out alone at the Cribbar takes some serious nerve, since this really is a wave that can knock the stuffing out of anyone riding it, with lethal consequences if it all goes wrong.

Not content with his early gift, Steve reckoned the swell was fading a bit so then ventured out to an even bigger outer reef two miles out to sea – known to the locals as Zorbas. After dropping into a couple he quietly made it back to Fistral unscathed while the local tow surfers racked up the TV and newspaper coverage at the Cribbar.

HALLELUJAH

Down the coast at Gwithian Ian Black and a few of the crew set out for a wild morning session in front of the main car park, while Andy Fawcett and the rest of the locals had opted for cleaner waves down at Mexicos and the Bluff.

At Gwithian, carnage ensued as mast-high plus waves combined with the wild winds broke masts and shredded sails as sailors pushed their limits.

For me it was one of those days where I felt I was chasing it. I knew Cornwall was going to be smoking but had to drop my kids off to school, meaning I couldn’t leave the Isle of Wight until 8.45am. Normally I would have left at dawn and been there for the whole day. On the ferry I realized I’d left my phone in my car and, on a day like today, communications were a necessity and now I was on the back foot in more ways than one.

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