Sussex surfer Jeff Scott speaks out on lockdown controversy

Jeff Scott, from Eastbourne, said he wanted to ride the legendary "Widow-Maker" to test new products he has created to help surf boards better handle big waves.

Mr Scott, who runs a company called JetSurf Waveriders, needed to try them out on a big wave so took on the legendary Cribbar off the coast of Newquay.

He said it was "possibly the only opportunity of the year for some big wave riding" in the UK.

Mr Scott has since faced criticism on social media and the police are looking into his journey.

He said: "I did take a beating on the water and have taken an even bigger beating on social media since.

"Public comments have been so critical and some very nasty, that it was clearly the wrong decision."

Mr Scott saw pictures of "epic" waves on Sunday and read that they would be "twice the size" on Monday.

Jeff Scott at the Cribbar in February 2019. Photograph by Geoff Tydeman

From the surf forecast, he predicted that it had potential to be the biggest wave the UK has ever seen.

He said: "I think that so many of us are fascinated by the sea, we get drawn to it and when Mother Nature puts on an epic show of her power, I think we can get very excited about it.

"I guess that can make some of us - including me - lose our minds a little bit."

Mr Scott said he completed the journey there and back in one day, leaving at 4.30am and arriving home late in the evening.

He travelled in a small van with a range of approximately 600 miles so he wouldn't need to refuel.

Mr Scott took gloves, hand sanitiser, a face covering, packed lunch and water.

READ MORE: Sussex surfer's 600 mile lockdown trek to ride 'Widow-Maker'

He said: "I had good intentions to legally comply and was very careful with sanitisation.

"I had a dream of riding the biggest wave the UK has every seen and having a socially distanced break for a couple of hours from the miserable year that we are in, while participating in my big wave sport."

Professional surfers have been travelling around the world during the pandemic to catch big waves, Mr Scott added.

Mr Scott said the surf on Monday was "amazing" even if a record breaking wave did not materialise.

He said that with about 600 people on the coast that day, there was "a good chance that if we shone a spotlight on every single case individually, then 95% of us could potentially be opened up to further scrutiny".

The Cribbar is famous with surfers around the world

Mr Scott since been met with widespread criticism from locals who described his actions as "disgusting".

He added: "I can now see that I clearly made a massive miss judgment on chasing this particular dream on this day during the lockdown, even if no harm is done, it has upset many people and that’s not fair.

"It’s been a terrible year for the whole world and I don’t want to encourage others to travel unnecessarily by my actions, I guess it is time to put the dreams on hold and hope that we can all start dreaming again one day in the future.

"All I can do now is say a big sorry and pay the penalty."