It's like one of those flowers that only opens a few times in its lifetime. You can wait a long time for it and unless you're in the right place at the right time, you're going to miss it and may never get the chance again. You can kick yourself, swear, punch walls but the opportunity is gone and the likelihood of it coming back is slim.



I'm talking about the aptly named wall of water called The Widowmaker. This is a wave that hits the coast of Cornwall on a handful of occasions throughout the year and is the ultimate of all surfer's rides. You'll see them all congregating on the beach with their surf boards waiting for The Widowmaker, then you'll see their chins drop and out pour the excuses for not getting in the water with this beast.

However, one surfer has defied the odds and battled with the beast of H2O, coming out on top on his first attempt. This brave young surfer took up his trusty surf board and strode out into the sea to play with the mother of all waves and returned victorious - earning him the respect of surfers of all ages up and down the country.

Apparently, this surfer has waited his whole life (all 17 years of it) to breach the 20 foot wave and, as he has succeeded, this now officially makes him Britain's youngest surfer to conquer The Widowmaker. Millions of tons of water were behind this wave with the teenager making short work of riding it and making it look easy. His words to describe the ride were 'amazing - but scary'. Many teenagers could take a leaf out of his book by facing their fears and allowing themselves to be scared while still confronting them.

Surfers who normally want to attempt to ride this wave normally have to have themselves and their surf boards towed out onto the wave by a jet ski to ensure they build up enough speed but this teenager was too young to be insured for this and had to rely on his own power to paddle out onto the wave. This not only shows his surfing skills but the amount of power and skill that goes behind it.

He admits he was nervous at first and didn't want to go for it but after seeing other surfers take dives and still come back up, he decided - why the hell not. It seems that attitude well and truly paid off bringing him a title and respect that otherwise might not have been his for a long time to come.

Although he freely admits his mother wasn't too happy with the prospect! We all worry about our children every time they go out but most of our kids aren't putting themselves in the path of a mini tsunami! His father did go to watch though, and they are rightly very proud of their son, who now has the bit between his teeth and wants to tackle other big waves around the world. That's the trouble with an adrenaline sport, you are always searching for something bigger, better and more dangerous.

Surfing, along with scuba diving, sky diving and bungy jumping are considered dangerous past times but the statistics still make it obvious that you are more likely to be killed from an accident in the home or simply crossing the street than you are to be killed participating in one of these hobbies.