HEAVY swells pounded the east coast for the sixth day in succession yesterday, as all but the most intrepid of surfers stayed on thebeach.

The wave heights peaked at 7m, with an average swell of 4m along the Sydney beaches.

A low-pressure system in the Tasman Sea, causing some of the biggest waves seen in years, was last night heading towards New Zealand, with wave heights expected to drop off over the next 24 hours.

The famous bombora off Manly beach provided die-hard surfers, including former world champion Barton Lynch, with outstanding conditions on which to ply their craft.

It was ideal for “tow-in” surfing, where surfers are pulled on to the waves by surf-skis.

“It is dangerous, absolutely,” said Andrew Lye, owner of the Dripping Wet Surf shop at Manly.

“It’s not for the faint-hearted. People should understand their ability and surf within their limits. In reality many of them should be sitting on the beach watching.”

At Long Reef, on Sydney’s northern beaches, dauntless surfers were being towed out to the biggest waves.

Leon “Seal Pup” Barclay, 33, said yesterday was the first time in four years there was tow-surfing there.

“When it’s like this, nobody paddles out there,” he said. “It’s dangerous, very. We wear life-jackets. It’s full on.”

Don White, of the Weatherwatch consultancy firm, said the swells from Nowra to Port Macquarie were being fed by a southerly airstream, even though the low was moving towards New Zealand.

He said for average surfers the weekend promised to be perfect. “The distance between the waves will lengthen and the wave height will drop to a safer level of about about two metres.”