Ben Bourgeois - Spy Optics Team Rider Profile!
Here is a quick profile and some back ground on Spy Surf Team rider Ben Bourgeois.
Acorrding to Ben, "All I wanted to do when I was a kid was surf and skateboard, and my parents were very supportive. I wouldn't be a professional surfer without my mom and dad. My mom used to drive me to competitions up and down the East Coast, from Florida to New Jersey." That seems to have paid of nig as Ben is a full time Pro Surfer hitting tours like the
WQS.
A 2-year-old Ben Bourgeois told his mother flatly, "I wanna be a surfer." And he hasn't wavered since. Far from being blessed with an ideal surfing environment or an inordinate amount of natural talent, he used the attributes he was given -- a supportive family and a will to succeed -- and rose to the elite in competitive surfing, the Top 44 in the world, restoring Wrightsville Beach's place on the international map.
Benjamin Charles Bourgeois was born in Ocean City, New Jersey, to a businessman father (Chuck owns a surf shop in Wrightsville since selling a highly successful sporting goods chain) and a waterborne mother (Priscilla was a platform diver and taught swimming at Camp Lejuene, where she met Chuck). Ben was immediately immersed in the water, and by age three, he was surfing. Unable to hoist his board to the ocean, Priscilla became his caddy as he entered and won contests as a tike in New Jersey. On land, he played baseball and soccer and tried to avoid the wrath of his older twin sisters. In 1986, the family relocated to Wrightsville Beach, site of a string of world tour events in prior years, but generally forgotten since.
Nick name: Benny
Birth Place: New Jersey, CA
Current Living: Carlsbad, CA and Dominican Rep
Years Riding: 23
Sponsors: Reef, SPY, Dakine, Wry, Sundiego, Sweetwater
Stance: Regular
Why Spy:Good glasses and Oda is the man!
Team member since: Not sure three years i think
After a big fall or injury; What motivates you to get up and do it again: The love for the sport.
Favorite Trick: Barrels
Describe how you feel when you can't ride due to and injury or travel, etc: I’m injured now and it sucks. I can’t think of anything worse.
Favorite country, spot, hill, park, etc: Australia and Indo
Describe your perfect day: Surfing all day with my friends and then having a cold beer after and laughing about how good life is.
Favorite Spy sunglass and/or Goggle and why: All of them! (pssst..
Spy Cloverdale)
Contests or Freeride? Describe likes and dislikes: Free surf
Most inspired by: Friends and family
Favorite Tunes: Anything new
Where you coming from and what's next: In North Carolina now getting my hamstrings strong and then in two weeks I’m off to South Africa and Scotland.
What Videos will you featured in, in 2007: Mixed Tape, Bobby Martinez Reef movie.
Favorite Photographer and/or Artist: Chris Straley
- Surfeyes.com
