Royce Frailey, 43, was in the company of about 10 other surfers off Dillon Beach in Marin County, North California, exploiting ideal conditions for the sport.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Frailey was lying on his board to pick up a wave when the shark, estimated by witnesses to be about 4m long, surged up, clamped its jaws around the board and surfer and dragged them under.
Frailey estimated that he was taken down some 5m before being let go. He put the shark's admission of defeat down to the buoyancy of the board, which he hung onto literally for dear life as he was taken down.
Fortunately, only about 50m from shore Frailey was able to swim to safety before the shark decided to return. Amazingly he had suffered only minor cuts and abrasions to a thigh and hip. He was able to ride by car to hospital for out-patients treatment.
By contrast, Failey's board had been bitten right through, the surfer immensely lucky that the way the shark took hold avoided a direct bite to his body.
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