Ben Wilson is an Australian

kitesurfer Kiteboarding or kitesurfing is a sport that involves using wind power with a large power kite to pull a rider across a water, land, or snow surface. It combines aspects of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, and wak ...

notable for holding the record for kitesurfing the largest wave ever captured on film; In 2011, Ben successfully kited Fiji’s most infamous wave, Cloudbreak at 35-foot. There have been many attempts by the next generation of kitesurfers including Nicolo Porcella and Jesse Richman to best this feat but as yet there has been no successful attempt. Prior to his wave at Cloudbreak, Ben was part of the early kitesurfing movement in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, winning Australia’s inaugural National Titles along with multiple competitions including the Merimbula Classic and Schick Kitesurfing Series. During the same period (2003–2005), he placed 3rd in the

Gorge Games A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency to cu ...

held in

Hood River, Oregon The city of Hood River is the seat of Hood River County, Oregon, United States. It is a port on the Columbia River, and is named for the nearby Hood River. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 8,313. It is the only city in Oregon whe ...

. Off the back of these outstanding competitive results he was signed to Slingshot and shortly after turned his focus from competition to creating video content. Ben spent over 10 years as a team rider for Slingshot, during which time he traveled the world and created feature-length documentaries such as The Dirty South and Shades of Green. He was featured in Surfers Journal in their article The Might of the Kite and continued to push kitesurfing towards a mainstream surf market through his Jeep Kite School initiative and coaching trips. Wilson’s first experience kitesurfing came in 2000 while working on

Namotu Namotu Island is one of the few hundreds of islands that make up the country of Fiji. It is in the southernmost part of the chain of islands called the Mamanuca Islands, which are just west of Nadi. Namotu is located just off the western coast of ...

Island, in Fiji. Windsurfing pros

Robby Naish Robert Staunton Naish (born April 23, 1963 in La Jolla, San Diego, California) is an American athlete and entrepreneur who has won 24 World Championship Windsurfing titles. He is also considered a pioneer of kiteboarding and stand-up paddleboa ...

Pete Cabrinha Pete Cabrinha (born September 13, 1961 on Oahu, Hawaii) is an American big-wave surfer, windsurfer, kitesurfer and artist. He is the founder and brand manager of Cabrinha Kites. Career Windsurfing In 1985 he won the world wave sailing champi ...

Dave Kalama Dave Kalama is a big wave surfer/tow-in surfer, stand-up paddle (SUP) surfer and racer, surf and SUP board shaper, windsurfer, outrigger canoe racer, private adventure guide, and celebrity watersports enthusiast. Kalama, his wife, 2 sons and 1 d ...

& Brett Lickle spent the Hawaiian off-season there testing and developing their own equipment for this new sport. At the time the sport’s focus was on twin-tip/freestyle so when Ben and several others including Jeff Tobias & Mauricio Abreu began using their surfboards in the waves it propelled kiteboarding into a new direction. From there the wave riding movement gained traction and in 2009 Wilson launched his own surf-focused kite brand, BenWilsonSurf (now BWSURF). Ben directs his company from the

Sunshine Coast, Australia The Sunshine Coast is a peri-urban region in South East Queensland, Australia. It is the district defined in 1967 as "the area contained in the Shires of Landsborough, Maroochy and Noosa, but excluding Bribie Island". Located north of the cen ...

where he lives with his wife and two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Ben Male kitesurfers Australian sportsmen Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people)