World class surfer Ben Skinner was seen catching ‘air’ during a tow surfing photo shoot for a major car manufacturer at Lusty Glaze Beach in Newquay on Thursday.

Newquay based Skinner, 23, who recently placed number two in the world at a major longboard contest in Japan, was in action at the popular Newquay beach, which had been hired exclusively by Ford for a promotional photo shoot.

Skinner and his tow partner Ben Granata did a succession of tow-ins using a jetski to slingshot the surfer into waves at maximum speed to create radical moves in front of the clicking cameras.

Ford approached Lusty Glaze as a venue for a series of extreme shots to promote its new S-Max car. As a private beach with good quality surf and an excellent safety record, Lusty Glaze was the perfect choice for a shoot of this kind.

As well as helping out with the tow surfing, The Adventure Centre based at the beach organised a high speed ZapCat ride and coasteering session for Ford. The images will be used in an article entitled “Extreme Dad” in a promotional brochure for the Ford S-Max.

Tracey Griffiths, head of centre and beach owner, commented: “With such a strong reputation for adventure and extreme sports, we were an obvious partner for Ford on this project.

“Besides all the excitement of welcoming a global brand to our beach, it was amazing to watch a home-grown talent like Ben Skinner in action at Lusty doing what he does best.”