Episode 5 of “This is J.O.B the Podcast”.
On this episode Jamie O’Brien interviews 3x world champ and 5x Pipe champ Jeff Hubbard. The conversation between the two Hawaiians touches a few acid topics such as the war between surfers and bodyboarders, but also crazy wipe outs, sessions and world titles.
At a certain point, Hubb is asked about the surfers x bodyboarders hostility. The answer:
“I think the stigma emerged in the early ‘80s, when bodyboarding was gaining a lot of popularity. It was gaining so much traction around the world that it was taking a little light away from surfing. Because it was such an easy-access vehicle for the ocean, the mass majority of people were kind of kooks. They didn’t know surfing etiquette; they didn’t know where to be in the lineup; they didn’t know aloha. They were probably getting in the way. These weren’t the ‘good’ bodyboarders from Hawaii – they knew exactly what they were doing in the water. But the majority of people went out and didn’t know what they were doing. I think the stigma stemmed from that. The good news is, from a bodyboarders perspective, is that there are a lot less people out there doing that these days. Today, you see a lot more kook surfers on soft-tops ruining the sessions. It’s more of a surfer-to-surfer beef than it used to be.”
Enjoy!
