Questions have been raised over how Porthleven's sea defences were able to start breaking up again in a chilling reminder of the disaster three years ago.

Last Thursday's storms meant the port narrowly avoided a repeat of 2014 - when boats were sunk and the harbour defences washed away - as 26 foot waves caused the timber baulks to begin to crumble.

At first light on Friday it was clear one of the baulks, which protect the harbour and its sheltering fishing boats from the force of the waves, had snapped in half and another was apparently missing entirely, as a result of the storms hitting the port overnight.

However, Porthleven's harbour master has defended the job of the defences, which overall stayed strong despite a "thumping."

Waves hit a peak of 26 feet / eight metres high on three occasions on Thursday - at 6.30am, 12 noon and 12.30pm – with data showing both height and a sustained force from 6pm onwards throughout the night.

Thankfully the rest of the baulks continued to hold, meaning the harbour was not under threat in the same way as in February 2014, when huge waves rolled in as the defences failed entirely, causing boats to the sunk and the remainder having to be removed from the water for safety – the first time this had happened in more than a century.

Two new timbers were expected to be put in place yesterday, having been made up over the weekend and gone to Helston Fabrications on Monday for their steel end caps.

Questions have been asked in some quarters, however, over why the baulk was able to start breaking in conditions that were not so extreme as 2014.

Then, a wave height of 78 feet / 23 metres was registered off the coast of Penzance, with similar sized waves pounding Porthleven – around two and half times bigger than those registered this week.

Alan Richards, secretary of Porthleven Fishermen’s Association, wrote on Facebook that talks would be taking place with Porthleven Harbour and Dock Company, which owns the harbour and installed the baulks, about the latest breakage.

He said: “It was over a short period, no spring tide, no major tidal surge. The baulks should and are designed to hold in these 'normal' conditions. Should the other factors have come into play this could have been another disaster.”

Others disagreed, however, saying there was “nothing normal about that swell” and that the wood took a “pounding,” with Aidan Botha pointing out: “An 18 second swell period is significant and brings with it significant power, irrespective of tide state.”

Mr Richards later told the Helston Packet: "It's just a case that we were a bit disappointed that they broke again. It's not a criticism, it's just given climate change and the weather getting increasingly worse and more frequent, whether or not there are alternatives or anything we could look at.

"There's a concern that it broke in a storm where the wave height wasn't that high. They're conditions we wouldn't have expected it to break in."

He praised Porthleven Harbour and Dock Company for their quick actions in replacing the baulks.

"Given our storms of 2014 our concern is now going forward, how do we protect the harbour better? We will be talking to them about that. It's not as a criticism but more as a constructive dialogue going forward. Prevention is always better than cure," he added.

Harbourmaster Phil Ward told the Packet that only two timbers had to be replaced in 2014, meaning it was likely the baulk that snapped this time around had been there since 1999.

"Timbers are going to wear and they will snap," he said. "The waves weren't much under what we had last time. They were coming up and the baulks were taking a hell of a thumping.

"If there's a weaker point in timber it will break. You can have a brand new one and if that's the weakest point, it will go."

He added that regular maintenance was given to the steel ends but it was impossible to see what was happening to the timber itself.

Mr Ward also explained that it was not possible to have stronger timber or to add more timbers to make the defence taller, as then it would no longer float - which necessary to be able to raise and lower it when needed, rather than having to wait for the tide to go out.

Porthleven Coastguards were out in force on Thursday evening and on Friday, making sure anyone in the area stayed safe.

Despite this, Mr Ward said that some storm chasers still insisted on putting themself in dangerous situations, with one going to the head of the pier to take photographs, just moments after he was warned not to.

"If he went in somebody is going to have to go in after him," said Mr Ward, who added: "The wave watchers have got to watch where they are going."