Simon Jayham has got the travelling surfer gig nailed down hard. During the northern hemisphere summer, while the Atlantic lays relatively dormant, he runs his GSD Surf Schools in Wales, England and Portugal. Then when the weather gets cooler and the tourists head back to the cities he packs up the soft boards, pulls out the guns and heads for warmer climes.

Ten seasons spent on the north shore makes him a big-wave veteran and puts him in good stead for when the wave models turn purple. However, the last few years he's turned his back on the crowds of Hawaii in exchange for coastlines closer to home.

Last week when the north Atlantic forecast charts turned his favourite primary colour he headed south to intercept the swell at one of Europe's best big-wave spots. The first few days were victory at sea with 20ft+ waves and no way to get to the line-up. Yesterday things calmed down and this was the result.//STUART NETTLE