Exclusive Dave Hubbard Interview: Pipeline, Hubboards and Bodyboarding’s Future

Dave Hubbard visited Bodyboard Holidays this summer to work with Rob and the team on the plans for the epic 2027 Wave Pool event that we have just launched. Dave joins Bodyboard Holidays' Rob Barber for an in-depth conversation covering Hubboards, product innovation, travel, competition, coaching, favourite waves and life beyond the bodyboard world tour. Honest, insightful and full of passion for bodyboarding, this is an interview every rider should read.

Get inside the mind of the worlds most versatile bodyboarder.

Some conversations happen by chance. Others are years in the making. This is one we've been looking forward to for a long time.

On a warm English summer's evening, tucked away in a traditional country pub, Bodyboard Holidays owner Rob Barber sat down with one of the sport's most respected figures, Dave Hubbard, for an hour of honest conversation over dinner and, naturally, a generous helping of classic sticky toffee pudding to finish.

What followed wasn't a typical question-and-answer session. It was two lifelong bodyboarders chatting about the sport they love, covering everything from Hubboards' latest product innovations and the thinking behind the revolutionary Step Deck, to Dave's role in developing the next generation of riders, his unforgettable Pipeline victory, life beyond the world tour, dream surf trips, favourite waves, and the ambitions that still drive him after more than four decades in the water.

Along the way, Dave shares the story of meeting his wife in Portugal, opens up about the future of competitive bodyboarding, reflects on the riders and films that shaped his career, and reveals an exciting coaching project that could help inspire the next generation of bodyboarders around the world.

Insightful, funny, passionate and refreshingly candid, this is a conversation every bodyboarder will find something to enjoy in. Whether you're interested in equipment, travel, competition, coaching or simply hearing one of the sport's true gentlemen speak openly about his journey, there's plenty to take away.

So grab yourself a coffee, settle into your favourite chair and enjoy what has become one of our most anticipated interviews to date. The photos throughout were taken during Dave's bodyboarding weekend with us at The Wave, the inland surf venue near Bristol. This is an hour in the company of Dave Hubbard that you won't want to miss.

Meet Dave Hubbard: More Than A Professional Bodyboarder

Right, the drinks have arrived and our food is ordered. So let's start with where you are in life. What's your role at Hubboards?

So, Hubboards is going very well. Jeff and I have a great working relationship. Jeff definitely has the vision for the product line, marketing and promotion, but I consult, so I help with those things. Sometimes a product will come up and Jeff will want me to take the lead. Other times I'm just consulting and then we kind of make it work together. So, yeah, product development and marketing.

How Hubboards Is Innovating Bodyboard Design

Tell me about some of those products. I saw your fin socks with connectors today, which is a product I've never seen before, and I'm interested to hear about any other new products, Step Decks and so on.

So yeah, those fin socks that you saw, we call it the Sock Lock. They're 2 millimetre booties that also have a fin security system built in. Typically when we're in warm water, we're using the Deluxe Fin Tethers, which to me is probably the best fin security product on the market. It has that nice comfortable back cuff that goes around the ankle strap, but it has a click buckle that you can tighten. Very comfortable, very effective.

So it is a preventative measure to keep the fin on the foot, and if you keep that strap tight, the fins are not going to come off.

If I can interject, I was listening to you commentate at a comp recently and somebody had lost a fin. And you were like, how are these professional riders not using effective fin security?

Yeah, crazy! For the beginner or intermediate rider, I'm not gonna bust your buns about fin security, but if you're at a professional level, in a contest, riding waves that are overhead or even less than overhead, you should be using fin security.

Some people are still using laces, which blows my mind. They're not very effective. The only thing is they're really cheap and they're really light.

So back to fin security. Deluxe Fin Tethers: excellent preventative, they just tick all the boxes. And then if you're wearing a bootie, you probably don't want that added neoprene around the ankle strap, because you've got neoprene around your foot and ankle.

So we developed a product that I worked on designing, and it just works excellently. It's the same concept. A strap comes off the bottom of the bootie and comes around the ankle. Once you buckle it in and tighten it down, the fin's not coming off unless the bootie does. And waves typically don't blast fins and booties off.

Another recent example of a product that Jeff and I worked together on developing is our Boog Poncho. It's a changing poncho and towel that doubles as a board sock. And it has a nice little zippered pocket on the front, so you can put a few things in there on your way to the beach.

That's a product we were both very stoked to bring to market after conceptualising and prototyping it. It's really fun to do that with my brother: think of things, or sometimes see things other people are doing and improve on them or put our own twist on them, or just come up with brand new products that have never been around.

And we love doing that with Hubboards. And I'm stoked to be able to do that with my brother, of all people, you know.

The Step Deck Revolution: Why More Volume Changes Everything

Okay, cool. And then tell me about the Step Deck. That's the most recent development, right?

So, if you remember, Rob, many years ago if somebody was carrying some extra weight, they would be told to ride a longer bodyboard because that's all that was on the market. If you had somebody who was 250 plus, maybe 300 pounds, no matter their height, they were recommended to ride a 44 inch, maybe a 45 inch bodyboard if that was available.

And that's not the correct approach to sizing a board to a person. So we've been finding ways to add volume to our boards without adding length. Very rarely do you have somebody tall enough that a 45 inch bodyboard is the optimal size. We have that in our line, of course, 45 or 44, as there are tall guys out there, but typically for someone who's a bit heavier, or if you just want more flotation, go for more volume rather than length.

It just makes so much sense. The first model we incorporated the Step Deck into was the Hauoli model, and wow, I love riding it in small waves. I get so much extra buoyancy, which helps me catch more waves and fly through flat sections so much more easily. Even some projection is added on smaller sections because of it.

Do you need more flow on your craft? Do you find that your normal board is not enough in certain conditions? That's where the Step Deck comes in. But that's not all, because some people get a little turned off by adding volume to the entire board, because you're going to get fatter rails, which could affect how you hold the board or how your rail interacts with the wave. The Step Deck was an ingenious way to maintain virtually the same thickness along the rails, so the interaction between the rails and the wave stays virtually the same.

The volume is added in the deck, hence the term Step Deck. The deck is actually stepped up from the level of the rails.

And flex-wise, with the thicker core, is that still manageable?

Yeah, still manageable. It's not so much that you really start to interfere with the flex, but you're certainly going to add strength to the core when it's thicker. So the board is specifically tailored to adjust for that. We're very happy with how the board came out and how it performs, because performance is very important for our brand.

And is the Step Deck unique to Hubboards?

I don't know of any other brand that is using this concept, or at least executing it the same way.

Can you patent that original idea then?

I don't think it's necessarily a patentable or trademarkable concept, but imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. I don't expect us to corner the market on higher volume boards. I do think we're going to see other brands bringing out higher volume boards too. It just makes so much sense to me, and I'm almost shocked we haven't got there sooner.

It's so cool that you're such active bodyboarders and you're bringing functional designs to market. Perhaps other brands don't have that same USP, do they?

Yeah. And without attacking or comparing other brands, I think the fact stands that Jeff and I have been bodyboarding for a long time. We've been involved in designing bodyboards and bodyboarding products for a long time. We're passionate about it, and our passion is focused on producing the best possible products for high performance and functional bodyboarding.

Building The Next Generation Of Bodyboarders

Another part of your job is managing a team of athletes. Tell me a little more about that.

Yeah, managing the amateur team. I'm the team manager domestically, but mostly that's for our amateur team in Hawaii. I've been on that side, coming up as a youngster around so many talented riders along my journey, and now as a top professional I still get to interact with so many awesome, talented bodyboarders.

My vision for the team is to help them become the best they can be. I'm not super strict, and I don't get really defensive if they jump ship, take a different opportunity and don't ride for Hubboards forever. I want them to find their own way and I wish them the best. While they're with me and we're sponsoring them, I'm trying to equip them not only for bodyboarding or a bodyboarding career, but also for life. I get to work mostly with youth, so I really want to equip them to handle themselves with respect, in a way that adds value to what they do.

Not everybody's going to become a pro bodyboarder. So I want them to learn some life skills and find a way to add value to themselves, whether it's through self-confidence, other soft skills or interpersonal communication. Whatever I can offer and teach to raise them up along the way. That's my vision for my team.

If they become great bodyboarders and the next world champion, obviously I'll be over the moon. That's the highest of goals. But if they have a good experience with our brand and with team Hubboards, that's also great. Whether it's for one year, five, or they're a lifer, I'm just there to help them be the best they can be.

That's so cool. So how many are in the team that you manage? And you said you just brought on a new rider, right?

Yeah, we brought on Davey Anderson maybe not quite a year ago, at the beginning of the winter I think. He's a great rider. Great up and coming talent.

Overall, I think we've got a great team. They're diverse in their skill sets and they represent our brand well. We've got about fifteen in the state of Hawaii, with maybe another handful in California. All such talented riders!

A Chance Meeting That Changed Everything

Moving on to your personal life. Tell me about your good lady, how you met and how that's going.

My wife is from Hungary and we met in Portugal, not far from Zambujeira do Mar, where Mave lives, in a town called Vila Nova de Milfontes. I believe it was in either 2017 or 2018.

She was on holiday from Hungary, taking surf lessons through the CC Board shop in Milfontes, which some bodyboarders may recognise. Bruno Sebastian from CC Board sponsored my brother and me for some years, so I went down to hang out with him for about a week, because that year we had three events in Portugal over a month. The Sintra Pro had finished, and we had about a week before the Viana comp started, and after Viana was Nazaré. We were a couple of young Hawaiians. It was actually Sammy Morretino's first international trip. Bruno wanted to show us around, and he had just one student that week who'd bought a package of surf lessons. So Evelin came with us to all these different beaches and took her lessons wherever Bruno took us to surf.

So she got a VIP, epic deal on her surf lesson package?

That was super cool. We got engaged within about six months, and were engaged for about a year while we waited for her K1 visa to enter the United States. She entered on a fiancée visa, we got married within the time limit, and she's now a US citizen. We're living happily ever after.

So good. Congratulations!

Thank you.

It's funny how these chance encounters turn into life-changing moments. And interesting that both you and Jeff have fallen for European lasses. So do you do what Jeff does and come to Europe each summer to visit Hungary?

Yeah, for sure. Hungary is awesome. Beautiful, great people, rich history, awesome food. Budapest is one of the most beautiful cities in the world for me.

Dave Hubbard's Favourite Bodyboarding Destinations

On the subject of travel and adventures, what are your top three surf trips ever, and why? A huge question.

I think Tahiti would be up there. Probably at the top, actually. It's a beautiful place, I love the culture, there are so many similarities to Hawaii, amazing waves, and the people are just so awesome. I think Japan would also be up there.

Oh yeah.

Obviously not as wave-rich as Tahiti or some other destinations, but the people are just so awesome. It's such a fascinating culture, great food, and I've been treated so well in Japan that I just love going there. It's so cool and unique that there's a bodyboarding scene there.

For three, I might have to go for Portugal, just because I really love Nazaré. The people in Portugal are so easy to get along with and go score some waves with. But there would be so many tight runners-up. I could rattle off another ten. For the sake of this list, which could change tomorrow, we'll go Tahiti, Japan, Portugal.

Winning Pipeline: A Dream Realised

Moving on to competition, let's start with the Pipe win. Congratulations on that again.

Thank you.

Good work. It made me very happy. As I told you, we were sitting around the table on a Sumatra bodyboard holiday watching and hooting at the webcast.

Super cool, thanks!

So talk to me about that event. Tell me the story.

It's just a dream come true. We're from a similar generation, at least, and while I was growing up, the pinnacle of the sport was a Pipeline event. There were even a number of years when the first world titles were given for winning that contest.

Even with the advent of the world tour, that always held a prestige for me. It was always my ultimate goal in the sport, because I grew up watching Mike Stewart. Eventually I got to see my brother win at Pipe many times.

Of course, I've done really well in the dropknee division many times, but the main goal was to win the Open, the main division.

How many times have you won the DK title at Pipe?

Maybe five or six.

But yeah, it was a dream come true. First of all, that we had another event at Pipe at all, so it was something people could strive for. We've had some down years with no Pipe contest, and nobody's dream comes true if the event doesn't happen. This particular year had good waves. I wouldn't say it was amazing Pipe by any stretch, but it certainly wasn't anything to cough at.

Good waves and great performances by the athletes. I was kind of tickled that some of my childhood heroes were in the event: Mike Stewart, Kainoa McGee, Andre Botha, Spencer Skipper and, of course, my brother Jeff. Guys from a previous generation that people really looked up to. Each of them is probably in people's top ten Pipe riders.

Tamega was there competing as well. Excellent, amazing athletes and Pipe riders. The young guard was all there too, as well as a handful of great international riders.

So it was the real deal. A great Pipe contest with good waves and a great field, and to make the final was already a dream.

The final just unfolded like a Cinderella story. I was surfing well, though I'm not sure I'd say I was in control of the heat, but I put up a great total and I was in the lead and holding priority towards the end. It worked out well. I played my priority and got the best wave of the whole final on my last wave. I used priority to better my situation, which is the goal, and it felt great when I finished that ride and let out a little claim.

Then I was kind of tripping out as the clock ticked down. Sammy, who was a contender, caught a wave right after mine and was paddling towards me before the heat ended to start celebrating. People ran down to the shoreline to celebrate with me.

"It was super special. Something I will never forget. One of the highlights of my life, clearly."

So sick. And so well deserved.

Thank you so much.

Why Dave Hubbard Stepped Away From The World Tour

So, moving on. This is the year of the IBC, and I believe you're no longer following the tour, with no intention of doing so. Is that right?

Yeah, that's right.

And what is your outlook on the world tour?

I think athletes who are able to do the tour for as long as I have just have to be balanced in their approach and aware of the cost of doing it, financially as well as in terms of time, energy and focus. To simplify it, I no longer saw that the cost was worth me participating.

The cost just wasn't worth it any more. But that's not to say I wouldn't make an analysis in the future and find it worth it again. For various reasons I won't go into too deeply, that was basically it. And I've done that in other years as well, whether there were things more important to me than bodyboarding that needed my attention or I maybe needed a break.

That's where I'm at right now. Just waiting and seeing. I'll keep observing, and if it becomes worth it for me to participate in the future, I'll consider it again.

What's Next For Dave Hubbard?

So what are your aspirations with bodyboarding going forward? How old are you now, if you don't mind me asking?

44.

44 and still raising the bar, like at Ala Moana Bowls the other day. You were blowing up!

Thank you!

So what are your aspirations with your own riding? Anything you're looking to finesse, perfect or achieve?

To continue to push myself when opportunities present themselves, whether that's great Pipeline, killer Ala Moana or a trip somewhere. There are definitely some manoeuvres I haven't landed yet that I'd love to, like the elusive 720 air reverse.

I'd still love to do that. There are a couple of other manoeuvres I don't want to advertise too much because I don't want someone else to land them before me, but I do think they're possible. I've made a couple of attempts that went well enough to make me believe I can do it one day. So, more moves, maybe some new moves, and continuing to push my riding. And I really enjoy competing.

We have a great pro-am tour in Hawaii, and I love competing with the people entering those events. I have a ton of respect for them and think they're some of the best bodyboarders in the world. We have an incredibly strong region, and competing with all those guys keeps me pretty sharp. I love to take part even if I don't win. I'm just stoked to be around great riders, see great riding and throw my hat in the ring.

And I guess the big unachieved goal would be to be men's world champion. I still think I'm of the calibre to achieve that, and I've given it some really good digs over the years. I think I've got some tread left on the tyre to go after it, if the cost analysis turns out to be worthwhile.

Giving Back To Bodyboarding

Besides that, what I do with Hubboards, and the work my brother, myself and others do with bodyboarding on our islands, like the youth events and the grassroots, community-oriented events we run, is super important to me. I want to continue doing that for as long as I possibly can.

I'm also working on a cool project at the moment. I'm going to create an online bodyboarding coaching course, with a very extensive, organised and approachable syllabus. It's going to take some time to create the videos. I'm still scripting, then I'll have to shoot and go to post. Right now the goal is about 80, maybe 100 lessons, starting from absolutely no awareness of bodyboarding or the ocean.

It's something I can give back to bodyboarding. I'm passionate about it, and I love to teach, coach and instruct. This would be a way to offer that on a global scale to those who can't come and meet me in person, or can't come to some of the cool stuff being done around the world.

Nice project. So, going back to the events, can you name the comps you and Jeff run?

The main one is the Garden Island Boogie Board Classic. It's an annual event and we're coming up on ten years soon. It brings in everyone from nine-year-olds up to the pros, men and women, all ages and all skill levels.

It's such a great community event, with about 250 participants. It's massive. We run it over three days, using two wave venues for most of it. It's an excellent thing for the sport on our island and in the state, and events like that are killer for the sport globally too, even though they're locally focused.

Jeff also runs the Hubb Keiki Fest. He's done 20 of those, I think.

Wow, the 20th annual event! And that event is free, right?

Free for kids, 13 and under or thereabouts. It's in Waimānalo, not far from Sandy Beach, a place that can really use some community-minded events. I also help with an event in Anahola on Kauai, which is the same thing. It's totally free, 16 and under, and kids can come and have a go at a little bodyboarding competition.

Those are the main events, but we've run coaching clinics and a few other things too, with the help of Kaikeha, a non-profit headed by Chris Burkhart.

So good. You're really setting the bar for giving back.

Thank you so much. I appreciate that.

And that project's bigger than Hubboards. With or without our brand affiliation, we're going to be doing that kind of stuff. It's so important for the sport. We're passionate about it, and of course our brand is involved, which is great.

The Bodyboarders Who Inspired Dave Hubbard

To round it off with some fun, we're going to do some quickfire questions. Your top five bodyboarders who influenced you, and why.

Mike Stewart's at the top of the list for sure. He has made such a huge impact on the sport, and his longevity continues to pave the way for what's possible for bodyboarders. He's led the way in different aspects of the sport for the better part of 45, almost 50 years.

My brother's on the list. Besides being so influential on me as my brother, he's been a very influential rider. He's very well rounded, but he's excelled in the air, and I think his air game is unmatched. He's pushed what's possible and the level of the air game, which is a huge part of contemporary bodyboarding. What we see as bodyboarding owes a lot to what Jeff's done through aerials.

Paul Roach would be on my list for what he has done for dropknee, and how he's even affected other forms of wave riding with how explosive he is. Aggressive, but also graceful in his attack. I think he really shaped the way everybody looks at dropknee nowadays.

Kyle Maligro is there too, because he showed me how much fun you can have bodyboarding and how many different things you can do at a high level. Whatever he did on a board was just so cool. His approach too: having fun, and his personality really came out in his riding. That was something super cool.

When we did this the other day, it was Kainoa McGee, and I'd still put him on there for the brute force and power he brought to his riding. Surfing big waves, surfing big waves dropknee, and his presence at Pipeline, which is clearly one of the most important waves to me.

The Bodyboarding Films Every Rider Should Watch

Great stuff. Now, three of the most influential bodyboarding videos?

Kauai Classic. Future for Youths was, I think, the title of that particular instalment, and it was very influential for us growing up. Seeing guys riding at a world-class level in our backyard. Guys who were the very best in the world, right there.

We could rub shoulders with them, go surf with them or see them. Those were the guys that Jeff, me and many others really looked up to, and they played a big part in our careers.

The Inside would be there too. It was so well done and well rounded, and it highlighted great riding around the world in such a fun, approachable way. Scotty Carter is a great artist when it comes to filming and editing.

And then for me, Fu Manchu, because it was really iconic and probably the height of dropknee in our sport. I think dropknee had its biggest spotlight when that movie came out, more attention than it's had since. It was probably 50/50 prone to dropknee at that moment.

That ratio was higher at that moment than it has been before or since. And that was when I was really trying to improve and focus on my dropknee, so for that reason it was super influential.

Dave Hubbard's Favourite Bodyboarding Waves In The World

Now, your top four favourite bodyboarding spots in the world.

Big question!

Pipeline is of course on there. Rights and lefts, barrels, ramps, big, small. An amazing wave. Very picturesque, very iconic, very powerful and hard to ride well in certain situations. To me, the real test of a great rider is how they fare at Pipe. So Pipe's at the top.

Before we move on from Pipe, I want to ask you the same question I asked Jeff in his interview. What's your status in the line-up there? You seem to get a lot of waves.

Among the people who've been riding Pipe for a long time, I think I have a decent position on the totem pole. But there's a really high turnover at Pipe, with new people in the line-up riding it for the first time or in their second season all the time. Some people come for a week or two, maybe for many years, and we've just never crossed paths. Typically those would be shortboarders, so they might not be aware of who I am.

So to those people, I'm just another bodyboarder, and I'm earning respect in the session that's taking place. I think Jeff has the highest position on the totem pole for bodyboarders, because he surfs Pipe more than any other bodyboarder.

And what he's done at Pipe is potentially more impressive than what any other bodyboarder has done, which is a huge claim. Granted, Mike's in that conversation, but I haven't seen Mike do a ton of airs at Backdoor, and I have seen Jeff get epic barrels at Pipe on the left. That answers your question about where I see my stack.

Great.

Another wave I'd say is Frontón.

It's one of the best bodyboarding waves in the world. Again, rights, lefts, barrels and ramps. It doesn't have as big a size range as Pipeline. I think it's confined to roughly a 3 to 8 foot range, whereas Pipe is probably 3 to 12, maybe a little bigger. It's also highly constrained by the tide.

Getting Amped About Mexican Pipe

So that's two. Maybe we go to a beach break next, and I'm going to go with Zicatela. It offers rights, left barrels and ramps, and the size range out there is huge, two to 20 feet maybe. I've seen it massive and bodyboardable, so a lot can be done out there. It's an amazing wave for bodyboarding. I'm going to put it at the top of the beach breaks list, and I think beach breaks need to be on this list for sure.

You've had good times in Mexico, haven't you? So many bodyboarders have gone there, though it's almost gone a little off grid recently, hasn't it?

Yeah. Do you remember the IBA event there?

Oh my God. Were you in that? That was insane. I was watching it from the UK, just gripped by it.

The one Jeff won.

That's right. It's coming back to me now. The coverage was insane. It was in the days of amazing webcasts. Was it 2011 or 2012?

Yeah. I had a quarter-final with Jeff that day.

Did you? Hubb on Hubb. Classic. Not the guy you want to come up against, to be fair. Bad draw.

"He's never the guy you want to come up against."

So, back to your top four. You can push it to five if you're struggling. I'm enjoying this immensely.

Man. I'm going to go with Taapuna in Tahiti. It's a great barrel. It's a left, and at a certain size it's just this awesome reeling left. A nice, pretty hollow, beautiful barrel. At a certain size it'll start breaking on what they call third bolt, and that's a huge ramp.

You take off and you can't really go straight at the lip. You have to take a drawn-out bottom turn to come around, and it gives you a killer ramp.

So it's not as versatile as the other waves, but it's a really great bodyboarding wave that I've loved surfing over the years.

Nice. We'll leave it at four. Really nice to get a bit of unexpected flavour at the end there.

What's sticky toffee pudding?

Should we pause it, so I can eat that thing?

Yeah, we're done. Cheers, Dave.

Final Thoughts

Whether talking product design, Pipeline, mentoring young riders or simply sharing stories over a pint, Dave's passion for bodyboarding shines through. After an hour in his company, one thing is clear: he's just as committed to giving back to the sport as he is to pushing its limits in the water. That combination of humility, innovation and genuine enthusiasm has made him one of bodyboarding's most respected ambassadors.

To follow more of Dave's journey, check out Dave Hubbard's YouTube channel and the Hubboards YouTube channel, where you'll find product insights and plenty of world-class riding.

We hope you've enjoyed this exclusive interview. If you have, share it with your boogie brothers, and read our Iain Campbell interview, where the former world champion talks about competing against Dave. We'll see you in the water.

Dave Hubbard Fact File

Want To Ride With Dave Hubbard?

Join Dave at The Wave for a Bodyboard Holidays coaching weekend, coached alongside Rob Barber and Damian Prisk, with video analysis and plenty of waves. Or take your bodyboarding further afield on a week-long coaching trip to Secret Morocco.

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