NEAL GENT
“Apart from having to balance down a rusty rail to get in, the swim and then sail out is deceptively easy! It’s only when I was out into the wind and sailing up to the break that the Cribbar really revealed itself! I looked upwind to see Ross doing a half-face turn and only just escaping a MASSIVE wall of white water into the channel! Riding upwind on a set you have time to enjoy a stunning bit of Cornish coastline, although you’re only a few hundred yards off the headland, you’re miles out from the coast on either side which makes you feel pretty small and insignificant! Then the wave hits the reef and you can see the water drawing from all directions into the main bowl where you very quickly stop thinking about the scenery and start seriously concentrating about how brave you’re going to be, waiting at the top before dropping in! To be honest, it’s not a difficult place to ride and, if you’re super cautious, you could shoulder-hop all day at twice this size safely, but the best bit of the wave is that main bowl and riding there really got the heart pumping. Going down here would probably be the end of your kit and, at best, a long swim back around the headland. The surfers I know who ride here say the hold-down is ferocious and that ‘two on the head’ in a row is not uncommon at all!” JC