But that wasn't about to deter Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

He had personally put the event to support awareness of Wipeout Dementia and the illness into his diary indicating that it wasn't to be changed. He wasn't about to pull out.

He changed into his wetsuit and then there was just a moment for some advice from surfing legend Wayne "Rabbit" Bartholomew who had just come in.

As the PM walked down the beach eyeing the waves, Wayne told Fairfax Media that conditions were "quite horrendous".

"It is very, very challenging. When you have got the Queenscliff bommie breaking you know there is a big swell on. When you are out there and you see it going off in the distance you know there's some big, big sets on the way."

Asked what advice he gave Mr Abbott, he added: "It is quite treacherous out there  and I thought safety is paramount with our number one citizen and  I wanted him to take care. Our Prime Minister is an ocean man, he knows the waves here, he surfs and I am pretty sure he will assess the conditions."

With that warning uppermost in his mind Mr Abbott got stuck in, but it was hard going. For more than 10 minutes he paddled, rolled and then paddled some more.

Eventually he broke through in conditions that would challenge a more experienced surfer.

Then the green strip of his team emerged above the foam and he finally turned and stood on the board. It was all he needed to do. It was enough. There were a couple of more lesser attempts and then it was time to come in.

To applause he walked out of the water and stood for a moment in contemplation looking out to sea as he caught his breath. Then to more applause from the other competitors and from the small crowd that had gathered he walked back up the beach.

Speaking to Fairfax as he still recovered his breath, he said: "Mate, that is no place for the faint-hearted out there today.  That is a big, big thumping, pumping surf. I have to say if I didn't have to go out there I wouldn't have gone out there today.

"Anyway I got out, thank God, and managed to get back in without too much embarrassment. I stood up. I was tempted to give it away a couple of times but it's the old story, if you stay out eventually there will be a lull in the surf, that's when you can normally get out."

Asked if he had considered not going in or whether he might end up doing a Harold Holt, the Prime Minister who disappeared at sea in Victoria, he smiled and added: "When I saw it this morning as I was riding past I thought this is crazy. And when I came out and looked at it again I thought this is crazier. When I was stuck halfway [out] I thought this is insane. But somehow there was a break in the waves, I just got out there."

Asked about the issue of dementia he said there were about 400,000 people suffering from dementia. By 2050 we are expected to have about a million people with dementia, in the absence of medical breakthroughs, he said.

"Research is incredibly important for all our futures because with life expectancies getting up to the mid-80s and beyond a lot more people are going to end up with dementia of one form or another."

He said the government had committed at the election to spend an extra $200 million on dementia research.

"We are on the verge of announcing some of the researchers who will be getting that money and I am very pleased that we will soon be able to offer dementia sufferers and their families a little more hope."

Asked if it had touched his family, Mr Abbott said: "Not really. My dad is 91  and he has had a couple of little strokes. I don't think technically he would fit the definition."