It is not a wave that breaks every week or even every month

Tom Crawford, contest director

The highly-dangerous wave off Newquay has been ridden only rarely since being conquered by three Australians in 1966.

The Cribber Challenge was the first attempt to see it ridden in competition.

Ocean experts watched closely for approaching conditions likely to rouse the giant off Towan Head, at the north end of Newquay's famous Fistral Beach.

Tom Crawford, contest director, said: "The ultimate decider with the Cribber Challenge was always going to be the conditions.

Rollover prize

"We needed spring tides, a big swell and manageable winds.

"It is not a wave that breaks every week or even every month."

The wave also had to appear during daylight.

Suitable conditions failed to materialise

The organisers hoped the contest would answer overseas critics who dismiss British surfing for its lack of big waves.

Mr Crawford said: "We stated at the start of the waiting period that we would only be prepared to run the Challenge in quality big waves"

Gul, the Cornish wetsuit company behind the contest, plans to offer the prize again next year.

The organisers are also looking for alternative locations to maximise the chance of running Britain's first big wave event in 2002.

But other efforts are continuing to try to establish Newquay as a world-class surfing location.

Shaping waves

A team bidding to create an artificial reef off the resort has switched the location away from Great Western Beach, to avoid problems for fishing boats and other harbour users.

Giant sandbags will be dropped in two rows off Tolcarne Bay to create high, long-lasting waves.

The 200-metre rows shape the way waves break.

Dr Kerry Black, a member of the reef project team, said: "The problem with the beach at the moment is that when a wave comes in it all breaks in one go - it's what is called 'closing out' in surfing."

The project needs much more funding before it can go any further - but the promoters say it would bring year-round economic benefits.