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Ben Bourgeois (October 30, 1978-) |
 The Largest Surfing EncyclopediaA-Z: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Advertisement
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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. A sleepy, college town in southern North Carolina, Wrightsville offered Ben a sparring partner in best friend Mark Hunt and relative isolation in the average East Coast surf. Together Ben and Hunt explored the coastal barrier islands by boat and soloed the 50-degree surf in winter. "He would always swing by and pick me up and take me to the good spots," says Ben. "We were always really competitive." Twice an East Coast and once a U.S. champion, Ben's initial international exposure came with winning the 1995 Quiksilver World Grommet Contest in Bali. Despite the showing, he was still a relative unknown in 1996 when he overcame Taj Burrow, Andy Irons and the brothers Hobgood to capture the juniors' division of the I.S.A. World Games at Huntington. Longtime supporter Quiksilver upped the ante, and Ben set out to navigate the WQS juggernaut. His first two years were lackluster, inching from 98th to 67th, still miles from qualification. In 1999, with his act in four-man heats honed to precision, he rose to 16th and secured a position on the WCT. Far from taking the tour by storm, his first season in the big leagues was an educating experience. "I learned a lot about surfing man-on-man heats," notes Ben, "and I think I'll be more comfortable at all the spots next year." A knee injury midway through didn't help matters, but he did manage to avoid the dreaded 33rd in half the year's events. Fortunately, his mastery of the WQS system meant retaining his WCT seed, allowing him to refocus on 2001. At 150 pounds, the Bourgeois approach is based on hitchless flow and a varied arsenal, which compensate for a lack of brute force. As his big-name scalps continue to mount (he ousted Shane Dorian and Rob Machado in 2000), confidence will rise. Having emerged from his hero worship, he is free to meet his potential. When all is said and done, he will return to Wrightsville a contented and celebrated man. -- Jason Borte, November 2000
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