World’s largest kite surfed wave – Ben Wilson for Jeep Australia
On May 20th 2011 in Namotu Fidji, Ben Wilson, caught the world’s largest wave (Cloudbreak) ever ridden strapless with a kite. What makes Ben an inspiration to all kiters is his passion for the sport. Ben’s driving force for his brand BWS is based on innovation, integrity and inspiration. Ultimately his undying desire to find the perfect wave and bring it to the public eye.
All you can say now after this Stu Gibson’s pic : “All the waves I surfed, were ridiculous…”
oh my god what a wave wow that is excellent. ben def must be the most extream kitesurfer out there there is no way anything in freestyle comes close to that and strapless, just mental
He should have been wearing straps so he could actually surf the wave versus holding on for dear life with his toenails buried on the wax of his board.
He caught the set of the day, but was unable to do a single turn. What a waste of a perfect and easy wave. Maybe he should reconsider his plan and throw some straps on for days like this.
fact n°1
I was not in Namotu, and few parameters miss me : What about the wave speed and the wind angle ? Not sure that those conditions allows real radical turns, even with straps.
fact n°2
I also rode ( Last century… 🙁 …) smallest monsters on other spots and I remember the pleasure and the adrenalin given by just the fact of being alone on a huuuge clean Mamma, enjoying forces of the nature. May be he was only blissfully hahaha !
fact n°3
Ben was on Cloudbreak at the right moment with the right team to make a movie, pics and money. He leaves nothing to chance, it’s both a remarkable sporting achievement and a technical feat.
I’m sure that many riders could have done better on that wave or have ridden largest and bigger one in the world. Where are the videos ?
fact n°4
Close to 15.000 views in 24h on youtube with positives and negatives advices : no problems, Ben reached his goal.
So no turns and down the line…. but he did it.
Some times it almost impossible to make any turns with straps or strapless with little off shore wind.You can make one,but you’re gonna get pulled over the wave.It’s hard to judge without actually being there.It might look one way,but conditions can be very limiting sometimes.