Lots of people would be content to hold one world title, either for one year or two years or three years. Lots of people aren’t like David Hubbard of Puhi. Without sounding greedy and sounding very much like it’s a
Lots of people would be content to hold one world title, either for one year or two years or three years.
Lots of people aren’t like David Hubbard of Puhi.
Without sounding greedy and sounding very much like it’s a legitimate, attainable goal, Hubbard, 26, the current and three-peat world title holder in the International Bodyboarding Association drop-knee division, wants to add some prone-position bodyboarding hardware to his trophy case.
“If all the cards fall right, I think, hopefully, I could bring a world title back to Kaua‘i,” he said in an exclusive telephone interview Tuesday.
Don’t bet against him.
He has a brand new sponsor, Morey Bodyboards, some knowledge of what it takes to be a world champion, and plans his career and personal moves with all the precision he incorporates when he prepares to take off on a 10-foot Pipeline monster.
His brother, Jeff Hubbard, is a former prone (belly on the board) world champion, and David Hubbard is the reigning world champion in the drop-knee (riding on one or two knees) division.
“Jeff did it, and I want to follow in his footsteps,” said David Hubbard, who is enjoying some non-competitive down time while training and traveling the island in search of the best waves.
And by training, he means preparing to compete in the Kaua‘i Loves You! Triathlon in the fall, or doing his version of the swim-rip-swim event by paddling on his board from Ke‘e Beach in Ha‘ena to one of his favorite breaks, Hanakapi‘ai, ripping there, then paddling back on his board, or jumping on his bike to ride to Kalapaki or Running Waters when the waves are up there, he said.
He has also been known to paddle from Ha‘ena to Hanakapi‘ai, catch some waves, and then run the steep, slick, two-mile trail back out to Ha‘ena.
“Is there going to be a swell? I’m there,” said Hubbard, who is happily single and plans to keep it that way as long as he continues to spend at least six months a year on the road, competing.
“It helps me maintain my focus,” he said of the single life. Also, it’s hard to keep a serious relationship going when he’s away from Kaua‘i half the year, he noted.
“Yeah, bodyboarding’s it for me,” he said of his full-time job. “I feel super lucky and blessed to be able to do that” and, with his new sponsor he is making more money than he ever has, he said.
“This is the most I ever made.” Before, when he was a touring pro, even as the reigning world champ, travel expenses ate up most of his winners’ purses, and he was barely breaking even, he said.
Now, if there are waves on another island or in another part of the country or world, he can rush them without much concern about whether or not there is enough in the bank account, he commented.
“I am excited about joining the team, and carrying on Morey’s rich history as the original bodyboard brand,” he said on the Morey Website, www.moreybodyboards.com.
The company announced it had signed him to a multi-year deal. Terms were not released.
The Website says he is working with Morey’s Oceanside team to design a line of high-performance signature models for the Morey Elite series, and on that site there is Hubbard carving on some Southern California waves, in his wetsuit.
About attempting to become the prone world champion, he said he initially didn’t think he was good enough to be prone world champion, but as he has spent time on the road defending his drop-knee crown, he know feels he has a shot.
“Over the past couple of years, I made a goal to be prone champ,” he said.
Again, watching with pride as his brother Jeff Hubbard ascended to the top of the prone-rider world, he realized he might be able to do it, too, he commented.
When his older brother went pro, he remembers thinking, “Gosh, that’s exactly what I want to do.”
But he didn’t jump into it without deep thought, making a conscious decision after high school to get his criminal justice bachelor’s degree from Chaminade University of Honolulu before turning pro.
That was after he was a teen member of the Kaua‘i Classic Bodyboarding Team, under coach Bob Sato of Kalaheo, moving quickly from state to regional to national champion as an amateur.
After that, he just didn’t see himself with a chance to become a world champion, so he went to college instead.
When the drop-knee division of the world tour came back after a recession-induced hiatus, he knew he could be the champion, he continued.
Between February’s Pipeline contests and next month’s U.S. Bodyboarding Association event in Huntington Beach, Calif., there are no real contests to choose from, so he’s enjoying the island’s uncrowded waves, he added.
“I’m enjoying being home, training,” and surfing “some of the best waves in the world here. Lucky we live Kaua‘i.”
Of all the local breaks discussed in this article, though, his favorite spot has gone unmentioned, until now: “PK’s (Prince Kuhio’s on the South Shore) is my favorite Kaua‘i break. It’s kinda where I grew up.”
In July, he’ll compete in a Sandy Beach, O‘ahu contest, he said.
He finished a triathlon on the North Shore of O‘ahu before, and has a friend and fellow bodyboarder who is a professional triathlete who finished 15th in the Kona Ironman Triathlon, who he gets training and competing tips from, he said.
He felt comfortable during the swim portion of the North Shore O‘ahu triathlon, but didn’t like the fact at all that he was getting passed by fellow competitors left and right in the bike and run portions of the event, he said.
While he attempts the Kaua‘i Loves You! Triathlon solo, his father, Mark Hubbard, and brothers, will form a relay team for the swim-bike-run event, he continued.
Back to bodyboarding, David Hubbard said he is happy his professional sport is gaining “global momentum,” which should help his nonprofit group, Boogie Nation, help fund the dreams and aspirations of the up-and-coming generation of bodyboarders.
The group produces bodyboarding videos, he said.
In addition to his new sponsor, Morey, Hubbard is also sponsored by The Foam Company, a manufacturer of bodyboards on Maui; and Plastics People Clothing.
Paul C. Curtis, sports writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 237) or pcurtis@kauaipubco.com
