Ben Skinner grew up with Jeremy Flores under the tutleage of Tom Carrol and Gary Elkerton.
He was first sponsored by Quiksilver at eleven years old and was immediately put in to a grind by the “Sandhill Warrior” Rob Roland Smith, the legendary personal trainer employed by Quiksilver to train the brand’s most promising young athletes in the 90’s and early 00’s, nicknamed for his interest in making groms run up and down sand dunes until until they fell over.
Ben at the time was surfing shortboards and he was ripping.
He was traveling to Morocco and winning contests.
And then he switched.
“I just got so frustrated on small days in England in weak waves, I wanted to surf every single day, and longboards let me do that.“
Born in England and raised inside pubs and breweries by parents in the hospitality industry, Ben is a 11X European Longboard Champion who, as a child, seems to have downplayed the wave quality in England.
Today he rides incredible waves, some off them with barrels big enough to stand in, and all on surfboards 9 foot plus. You'll see video footage of these waves in the show notes of this episode.