In a year of mental online clips, Ben Veitch's efforts still manage to stand out (check all his clips HERE). We thought it was about time we caught up with the big man to find out what's going on over there in West Aus. Looks like he's got a fair bit in the works...
Portrait: Ari Wölfl
RT - Two of your recent clips have racked up some of the most traffic the Riptide website has seen this year. Have you noticed more interest in your surfing over the last 6 months?
BV - Yeah it sort of feels that way a little bit. I guess I've been a bit more available. I actually made a mistake with my Uni enrolment for this semester. In week three when I went to class for the first time I found out that I won't be doing any Uni this semester (laughs). So that's certainly freed up more time to surf, to be a part of a few more sessions of note. I guess also just talking with filmers and photographers helps. Everyone is good mates and amped to try and get good waves, photos or clips, so why not just try and make that happen rather than just going for a surf and hoping for the best?
How are you enjoying working with Dan Nicholls? It was refreshing to see some production value added to the intro of your latest clip.
Yeah, it's awesome working with Dan. We pretty much grew up together, went to primary school and high school together, stayed at each other's house on weekends and just surfed together all the time. He was the one that got me into it actually. I guess now we're 'grown up', we don't see each other as much as we used to, so it's been really cool to do a couple of videos with him. We were both on the same page with wanting to do something different. People seem to have liked it too, so we're stoked. It's pretty funny remembering how Dan was explaining it: "Oh yeah, like we'll film this thing and then cut to this." I was just nodding my head, not really having any idea what he was talking about, but I was psyched to see the finished product!
Above photo: Ari Wölfl
It's not often we see your name pop up without someone commenting on your height. For all of us playing along at home, just how tall IS Ben Veitch? What size boards allow you to contort that frame into such critical riding?
I'm 195cm or 6'5". The boards I ride are 43 and a 1/2 inches long. Obviously that sounds pretty massive but compared to other board to rider ratios, it's small… well relatively anyway. The shape itself is a bit narrower, with the other specs scaled back off the width. As a result, the shape is fast and responsive, it's just narrower to accommodate my body and the way that I ride. I really think to be a bigger guy and riding a board designed for someone considerably smaller than yourself can place some unnecessary limitations on your riding. It's definitely worth going up another inch.
Margaret River has long since been hallowed ground for Australian bodyboarders. Tell us about your childhood growing up in such a high performance region?
I really enjoyed growing up here. It's a pretty laid-back coastal town and it was great just hanging at the beach all weekend with your mates, like anywhere really. In terms of talent though, for the most part, those big names synonymous with the waves here all came from outside Margaret River. Ryan Hardy being a massive exception of course. Back then and still now, there are a core group of guys that are really good but are pretty content to just surf and have never felt the desire to chase it. Spoilt maybe, I'm not sure. Also, Margaret River is a surf-oriented town through and through, kind of what Port Macquarie is for bodyboarding but in this case for surfing. There are far more surfers than bodyboarders and growing up you became aware the vibe from some older guys towards 'boogieboarding' isn't always that cool. The young generation of surfers are cool though, I guess they've seen what good bodyboarding can look like. Actually, for Ryan to come from such a talented surfing family and to ride a bodyboard as well as he does, I think it won a lot of credibility for bodyboarding in the town.
Above and header photo: Chris Gurney
Your freesurfing seems to serving you pretty well at the moment. Are you interested in chasing the tour, or content to keep doing what you're doing?
I love freesurfing. I've always enjoyed doing contests though. To be in a world tour contest in pumping waves, charging and hitting sections you might not normally hit... I'd really like to experience that one day. In terms of chasing the tour, I don't know, I think waves like Sintra would probably not be my strongest point. It's a pretty expensive gig too. Having said that I'm trying to get over to Canaries in November for the Grand Slam, that's one contest I'd like to be a part of.
What riders did you look up to growing up in WA?
I looked up to all those WA guys, as well as Ben and Kingy and stuff. To see HardLyfe premiere at the local high school auditorium when I was just getting into bodyboarding though... so much Hardy froth, I don't think that movie ever left the player. I don't think I surf that much like him but he is still my inspiration on how to ride a bodyboard for sure. I still believe he is the best. Plus he's a legend.
Above photo: Mike Maxted
Judging from your recent releases, you're clearly pretty proficient in the big stuff. What breaks are you chasing these days when the forecasts are looking massive? When the forecasts are looking massive, all I'm really thinking about is North Point. That's kind of boring, but I just really enjoy surfing that wave, just because it's home I guess. Other than that though, I'm keen to get into those bombies down south. I really enjoy the rush from paddling rather than being ski-assisted and am keen to get into a few big ones down there, but I guess sometimes that's not always possible, in which case there's a ski rope.
Give us a breakdown of what you've got lined up for the next twelve months.
Right now, I'm working a pretty flexible job that allows me to surf a fair bit. I go back to uni next semester where I'll finish my business degree in marketing and finance. I really enjoy studying and I look forward to using my degree but for now I think I'm going to put that on hold. Dan and I have a couple of plans that we'd like to be able to try and do in the near future but we'll see what happens. At this point in my life, I'm more amped than ever just to be surfing everyday and enjoying pushing that. That's something I can do right now too, so I will.
We look forward to seeing the fruits of your freesurfing roll into the office mate!
Yeah, it's awesome working with Dan. We pretty much grew up together, went to primary school and high school together, stayed at each other's house on weekends and just surfed together all the time. He was the one that got me into it actually. I guess now we're 'grown up', we don't see each other as much as we used to, so it's been really cool to do a couple of videos with him. We were both on the same page with wanting to do something different. People seem to have liked it too, so we're stoked. It's pretty funny remembering how Dan was explaining it: "Oh yeah, like we'll film this thing and then cut to this." I was just nodding my head, not really having any idea what he was talking about, but I was psyched to see the finished product!
Above photo: Ari Wölfl
It's not often we see your name pop up without someone commenting on your height. For all of us playing along at home, just how tall IS Ben Veitch? What size boards allow you to contort that frame into such critical riding?
I'm 195cm or 6'5". The boards I ride are 43 and a 1/2 inches long. Obviously that sounds pretty massive but compared to other board to rider ratios, it's small… well relatively anyway. The shape itself is a bit narrower, with the other specs scaled back off the width. As a result, the shape is fast and responsive, it's just narrower to accommodate my body and the way that I ride. I really think to be a bigger guy and riding a board designed for someone considerably smaller than yourself can place some unnecessary limitations on your riding. It's definitely worth going up another inch.
Margaret River has long since been hallowed ground for Australian bodyboarders. Tell us about your childhood growing up in such a high performance region?
I really enjoyed growing up here. It's a pretty laid-back coastal town and it was great just hanging at the beach all weekend with your mates, like anywhere really. In terms of talent though, for the most part, those big names synonymous with the waves here all came from outside Margaret River. Ryan Hardy being a massive exception of course. Back then and still now, there are a core group of guys that are really good but are pretty content to just surf and have never felt the desire to chase it. Spoilt maybe, I'm not sure. Also, Margaret River is a surf-oriented town through and through, kind of what Port Macquarie is for bodyboarding but in this case for surfing. There are far more surfers than bodyboarders and growing up you became aware the vibe from some older guys towards 'boogieboarding' isn't always that cool. The young generation of surfers are cool though, I guess they've seen what good bodyboarding can look like. Actually, for Ryan to come from such a talented surfing family and to ride a bodyboard as well as he does, I think it won a lot of credibility for bodyboarding in the town.
Above and header photo: Chris Gurney
Your freesurfing seems to serving you pretty well at the moment. Are you interested in chasing the tour, or content to keep doing what you're doing?
I love freesurfing. I've always enjoyed doing contests though. To be in a world tour contest in pumping waves, charging and hitting sections you might not normally hit... I'd really like to experience that one day. In terms of chasing the tour, I don't know, I think waves like Sintra would probably not be my strongest point. It's a pretty expensive gig too. Having said that I'm trying to get over to Canaries in November for the Grand Slam, that's one contest I'd like to be a part of.
What riders did you look up to growing up in WA?
I looked up to all those WA guys, as well as Ben and Kingy and stuff. To see HardLyfe premiere at the local high school auditorium when I was just getting into bodyboarding though... so much Hardy froth, I don't think that movie ever left the player. I don't think I surf that much like him but he is still my inspiration on how to ride a bodyboard for sure. I still believe he is the best. Plus he's a legend.
Above photo: Mike Maxted
Judging from your recent releases, you're clearly pretty proficient in the big stuff. What breaks are you chasing these days when the forecasts are looking massive? When the forecasts are looking massive, all I'm really thinking about is North Point. That's kind of boring, but I just really enjoy surfing that wave, just because it's home I guess. Other than that though, I'm keen to get into those bombies down south. I really enjoy the rush from paddling rather than being ski-assisted and am keen to get into a few big ones down there, but I guess sometimes that's not always possible, in which case there's a ski rope.
Give us a breakdown of what you've got lined up for the next twelve months.
Right now, I'm working a pretty flexible job that allows me to surf a fair bit. I go back to uni next semester where I'll finish my business degree in marketing and finance. I really enjoy studying and I look forward to using my degree but for now I think I'm going to put that on hold. Dan and I have a couple of plans that we'd like to be able to try and do in the near future but we'll see what happens. At this point in my life, I'm more amped than ever just to be surfing everyday and enjoying pushing that. That's something I can do right now too, so I will.
We look forward to seeing the fruits of your freesurfing roll into the office mate!
