I immediately thought of my sister and her mates who regularly surf recreationally in any combination of 4-6 adults and up to 7 assorted kids..

They usually favour spots a bit further up the coast though, and I’ve not known them to surf with a fella in his 50s so I’m hoping everything is OK although I’ve not been able to contact them yet

How awful; from the BBC news item it would sound like some of the children may have lost parents.

cornwall is suddenly full again for half term. i surfed this afternoon and the water temp has dropped a lot in the last few weeks, we have an autumn swell running so more power than the usual summer slop and there are no lifeguards… yet the beach and in the water as busy as summer with all manner of inappropriately thin for the temp wetsuits being seen and people in the water with surfboards, bodyboards or just splashing about who obviously don’t know what they are doing.

Victims where in their 40’s and 50’s. Of course there may have been more people in the water the images from the bbc news showed quite a decent surf

I’m currently a few miles away from Mawgan on my jollies. Decided at the last minute to leave my board at home and kinda glad I did. Not experienced enough to read the surf too well and this has shit me up a touch.

Early indications suggest one of the deceased was a rescue attempt.. so very tragic. I imagine if you were stood on the beach watching children drift off out to sea or in difficulty it would be impossible not to go wading in after them

Big difference between surfers and folk with bodyboards.

^^and that comment^^ there is why we don’t go too far out and only go in with lifeguards on duty. Both kids are good swimmers in fact daughter is very good but I’m sure all you’ve learnt re survival training etc goes from your mind as the sea decides which way it’s taking you.

Is this an over simplification? I’d expect surfers to be competent swimmers, do people just panic and instinctively try to swim straight back to the shore?

More or less… if there is decent size surf a situation can arise where they might not be able to get in or out. The rip may be pulling them out and the breaking waves can be pushing them back in. If they were off their boards and stuck swimming in a certain zone where waves are breaking just in front of them (the worst place to be) then it wouldnt take long for an inexperienced surfer to get in trouble.

You’d be suprised. A lot of people would be screwed if they snapped their leash on a big day and had to swim in. I’ve had to do it once and it isn’t much fun. Swimming in cold, big surf is really really hard work.

What pimpmaster says. Amazingly easy to get into trouble, and watching Laird Hamilton and all play around in Jaws (I actually know an English guy who enjoyed being in the jaws impact zone, stayed in for three hold dows and was still laughing – this guy is half fish!) make a lot of people think that the sea is an ‘easy’ place to be. A lot of fun absolutely, but easy? Never.
So sad for all those affected, in particular the rescuer.

Echo this again. Have done this a few times in some quite scary surf and it’s not something I ever want to do again.

Once you lose your board the sea becomes a very different place.

Thoughts are with those who’ve lost, really sad news.

I surfed the NE coast for years as well as a few others and rips are a real danger.
My local break is a rip paddle out. You could be in the line up without paddling or getting your hair wet.
People would follow suit and get into trouble on a regular basis myself included!
Scary place when your well behind the line up and your not getting anywhere and your energy levels are dropping.
Sad news.

Not always. I was windsurfing on the UK south coast when the wind dropped to nothing, just a big swell and strong current to worry about. I sat on the board and had plenty of time to calculate options. The current was taking me to a rocky shore with cliffs with a high risk of injury/death getting ashore then nowhere to go. The nearest beach was in view and at about 70° to the current. To get there I could either ditch the rig and paddle the board or swim. Swimming I can do 4km/h, paddling a board somewhat less. I swam and very quickly got past the critical point where I was no longer being carried towards rocks. I phoned the coast guard as soon as I got to the beach. They had already had a call out about my board which they kindly picked up – it had been washed up where I didn’t want to.

So I might have made it paddling the board, I was certain I could do it swimming.

Unhappily, I think this shows all too clearly how easy it is for inexperienced visitors to underestimate just how treacherous the sea can be. I know there are signs up warning of dangerous rips, but how many people a) read them, or b), really understand what is meant by a rip current?
I see similar happening on the coast south of Weston-Super-Mare, where there’s a huge tidal range, second highest in the world, which uncovers extensive mud flats. Emmets visitors wander or drive out towards the sea, about a mile out, and get stuck; with the tide coming in at around 3-4 mph, things can get a bit desperate pretty quickly.
There are big signs where you enter the beach, and along the beach, and the hovercraft still get called out 200+ times each year!
The hovercraft were introduced after a five year old girl got stuck and drowned, before rescue teams could get out onto the mud.
Visitors just don’t look at the signs, and even with beach rangers at Brean people ignore the dangers.
It’s difficult to know what the answer is, sadly.
TBH, it wasn’t until I read an article in the Western Daily Press which described what happens, and that a ‘rip tide’ is actually a misnomer, that I sort of understood, along with what’s written above.

Oddly enough, with reference to my comments about people at Burnham, Berrow and Brean ignoring the signs warning about soft sand and mud, danger of sinking, this photo was in today’s Western Daily Press:

🙄

The 22-year old driver escaped unharmed after trying to drive across the mud flats, and failed to push the car out!
This was Saturday, and AFAIK it’s still there.
You just can’t legislate against stupidity.

SLSGB have been asked by Torbay SLSC to release the following statement in regards to yesterdays tragic events;

Brendon Prince, Chairman Torbay Surf Life Saving Club, with a friend Jon Harry, was one of the first on the scene of the tragedy at Mawgan Porth, near Newquay, yesterday which claimed three lives.
Brendon and Jon were assessing the beach before considering going surfing when they were alerted to people being in danger. As they entered the water the two sons of one of the victims were escaping the surf so Brendon and Jon immediately went with other members of the public to assist their father. The two rescuers were able to pull the man to the beach and immediately returned with others for a woman who was around 40 metres on from the first casualty. On reaching the beach the two were able to get the attention of a doctor who assisted with CPR on the woman, whilst Brendon performed CPR on the man.
When it became apparent that the two were not connected Brendon alerted the emergency services as they arrived to conduct an immediate search for a suspected other casualty. The emergency services located the third victim, a man, around half an hour later.
All three casualties were wearing shortie wetsuits and no surf or body boards were attached which indicates they were swimming.
Brendon today said ‘we are devastated at the loss of these three lives yesterday. It is the skills that I have learnt at Surf Life Saving that enabled me to rescue and attempt to resuscitate the victims.’ Brendon went on to appeal to the public to assess the dangers of the sea before entering. ‘lifeguards cannot be there all the time, in fact patrols are present at relatively short intervals, I ask everyone, assess the sea before you enter, ensure it is safe to proceed for you and your family’s capabilities’.