Waves of Discovery - Kitesurfing in Illawarra

The proximity of The Waterfront, Shell Cove to a choice of breaks and beaches usually means that regardless of which way the winds are blowing you can find somewhere secluded to escape and enjoy the sun and surf – unless of course, you don’t want to!

One such man is Ben Herrald of Unhooked Sports who has made a living from favourable winds and today we sat down to talk to him about the best places to learn to kitesurf, windsurf and one of the newest trends hitting our waters, hydrofoiling. This is his story…

I have spent my entire life in the water and enjoyed every water sport there is - from kitesurfing, windsurfing, wakeboarding to surfing and recently, hydrofoiling.

Illawarra is such a great place for these water sports due to the huge wind tunnel and it’s one of the few places that is good in both summer and winter, actually, it’s pretty great all year round!

I started Unhooked Watersports Wollongong in July 2007 in our retail space in Port Kembla after running a few lessons privately with clients for about six months beforehand. The business is growing rapidly - it’s a bit of a monster, in a good way, and our client base has expanded from Illawarra to all over Sydney.

Anything in or on the water is my absolute passion and I’m currently working in the Mines to keep the cashflow up and employ a few local instructors, but the focus now is to take the business in the future to the level that it can – and would be – my fulltime job.

What excites me most about my job, and why I got started initially is the kitesurfing, but I’ve been doing a lot more hydrofoiling and I love it.

It’s a fairly new water sport, it’s been around for five years and I’ve has been doing it since it’s started, it’s been great to see where it began and where it is now! It’s evolved so much and now allows riders to ride waves that are not normally able to be ridden.

That’s where the majority of our lessons are hydrofoiling and kitesurfing. 

Hydrofoiling is unique due to its specialised board with ‘wings’. It allows riders to lift out of the water and reduce drag which means a lot more speed and allows riders to pull onto waves a lot easier.  

It’s been a progression of skills for me. I started as a kid surfing and sailing which then turned into windsurfing, then into kitesurfing. Throughout my life I have done lots of comps and I know I’ve said it a few times now, but I have spent my whole life in the water, it’s the absolute driving force in this business and my life. 

I’ve competed and won lots of comps in a range of sports and most recently for kitesurfing. I was crowned the NSW State Champ in 2018, was runner up in 2020, and came in third earlier this year.  

My favourite places to enjoy the water for water sports would be kitesurfing on the big south-easterly winds or head to mystics on the north-easterlies, the best part about mystics is it isn’t too crowded, so you can have the place to yourself and enjoy it. Lake Illawarra is best for kitesurfing with the westerly winds, but I love everything about Bass Point especially for a surf or a dive. 

And honestly, that’s the best part about this area, how close everything is. The beaches, and then you have the escarpment right there and obviously how great this region is for waves!

And when it’s too cold for the water, we look to the snow! A highlight of my career would be taking my kids snowkiting. This is another aspect of our business we are fortunate to offer in winter, but nothing makes a dad prouder than your five-year-old daughter being able to pick up snowkiting straight away!

We’ve got a few exciting months to come as we look to invest in electric hydrofoiling, I’m currently trialling different brands to see what is going to work best but this is an exciting new sport, you may have seen it on the Gold Coast, but basically, it’s like flying in the air on a board in the water. We will be at the point of launching this, officially, by September this year and ready to take on clients in 2022. 

All our classes are tailored to suit the client and we take on all abilities and ages, depending on what they’re looking to achieve. We run classes every day of the week and will work with the clients to find the best location depending on the conditions.

We also have a retail shop in Port Kembla stocking all things water sports, except kayaks, but everything from boards, kite surfing gear, foils, surfboards, wakeboards, wetsuits, bags, ropes, paddleboards and inflatable boards.

The shop is open Thursday through Sunday and other days by appointment only, but for anything about the shop, or to find out more about our lessons or classes, the best way to get in touch is via email  info@unhooked.com.au - or contact me directly on 0433 161 110.

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For more on Ben and Unhooked Sports, you can check them out on Facebook - 

www.facebook.com/unhookedwatersports or visit their website -  www.unhookedwatersports.com.au