Freezing cold, exhausted, soaked through, with massive waves crashing down on me, I was struggling to right my capsized catamaran. Using all my strength to heave the water-laden sail upright, I glimpsed something orange moving towards me through the frothing surf. It was the RNLI lifeboat, coming to rescue me.

I had been teaching myself to sail a catamaran ever since a motorbike accident 10 years ago stopped my surfing. I had set my goal of sailing the Cribbar—a wave off Newquay in Cornwall that can reach 30ft in height, earning it the nickname the Widow Maker. It occurs just once or twice a year, and is usually tackled by only the bravest and most skilled surfers, but I decided that I could ride it on my catamaran, Mischief. I would be the first person to do so.

I began by practicing on Newquay’s normal waves. It was a steep leaning curve—I had a few sailing lessons but mostly picked it up as I went along.

It’s incredibly hard tackling waves travelling at 40mph, often in dreadful conditions. People began to think I was mad, but I ignored them. Every time I launched my boat, I would be terrified but I wouldn’t turn back for anything —life is about facing your fears and testing your limits. There were moments when I’d think, “This is it” after I’d been hit by a 30mph squall, but I learned to stay calm. The moment passes soon enough.

In the early days I had to call the coastguards twice for help. I was very grateful when the lifeboat arrived and appreciated the service it provided.

But my relationship with them changed soon after that. Once I had got the hang of righting the boat, I was fine. It took a while, though—around 20 minutes—and each time I capsized, well-meaning people on the beach would phone 999, thinking that I was in mortal danger. I wasn’t—I was having a whale of a time—but once the coastguards had been called, they had a duty to come out to help me, however unwanted that help was.

They’d arrive and I would explain that everything was OK but, since they were here, I wouldn’t mind a hand because the sail was heavy. Afterwards they expected me to limp back into the harbor after them—to do the “sail of shame”—but I didn’t see the need, and I didn’t feel contrite, both of which may have needled them.

As the “rescue” mounted up, so did the anger of the harbour master and the RNLI. They raged at me for wasting time and money—it costs £2,500 for each call-out. By the 14th rescue, they threatened to ban me from Newquay harbor and I earned the nickname Captain Calamity. I was also described as a “bloody menace”. They were so fed up with coming to my aid that the coastguards would simply write “Him again” in their logbook.

I refused to give up, though, and four years ago I caught the Cribbar for the first time. I felt a huge sense of achievement that I was the first person to do it in a catamaran. I’ve successfully ridden the wave five times since— despite my boat being destroyed in 2010. The coastguards hoped that would be the end of it, but I just said goodbye to Mischief and bought a replacement.

I understood where they were coming from—they had an obligation to help me—but I wished they would check first that I wanted to be rescued. I am a strong swimmer and enjoy a wipeout in a big wave. To keep the peace, though, I took the refresher course in sailing that they requested, even if I didn’t think it was necessary.

I wasn’t concerned with all the criticism—embarrassment is pointless emotion—but I would have liked to be asked why I wanted to sail the Cribbar. My reply is the same as that mountaineer’s: because it’s there. All adventures involve an element of risk, which is why they’re fun.

The RNLI and I get along famously now. I have invented a system that helps me right my boat in one minute instead of 20 and that has helped enormously—I have gone from being the bungling idiot to someone doing his own thing. I still check the forecast to see when the Cribbar may develop—it’s too much fun to stop sailing it.

The rhetorical mode used in the first paragraph is ________.

The author thought the harbormaster and RNLI were angry with him maybe because ________.

Which statement is CORRECT about the author’s surfing learning experience?

From the passage, we have the impression that the author is ________.

Why did the author earn the nickname Captain Calamity?