A collective sigh – mostly remorse, perhaps partly relief – is echoing through the big-wave surf world as the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational has been called off.
Contest organizers were eyeing an incoming swell to Hawaii later this week, which had potential to reach the required 50-foot faces at Waimena Bay to run the event. But, after going on yellow alert, they announced Monday that the status had returned to red.
That means, the Eddie won’t go.
Earlier, when the event was called on yellow alert, contest director Liam McNamara showed some skepticism. In an interview, he told KHON2:
“It’s a matter of the timing of arrival, and also the wind. There’s some questions with the wind, and questions of whether it will peak overnight. We need eight hours of competition, from 8am to 4pm. We need 50-foot faces. It’s a lot to ask.”
The contest – which honors the late Hawaiian waterman, Eddie Aikau – last ran on January 22, 2023 with local North Shore Lifeguard Luke Shepardson winning the event. That was just the 10th time the Eddie went since its inception in 1984.
This season, the event window runs December 14, 2023, to March 12, 2024. But as everyone knows, there needs to be an appropriate swell. The Bay calls the day.
Will the Eddie run this year? Stay tuned.
Past Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational winners:
- January 3, 1985 - Denton Miyamura
- February 23, 1986 - Clyde Aikau
- January 21, 1990 - Keone Downing
- January 1, 1999 - Noah Johnson
- January 12, 2001 - Ross Clarke-Jones
- January 8, 2002 - Kelly Slater
- December 15, 2004 - Bruce Irons
- December 8, 2009 - Greg Long
- February 25, 2016 - John John Florence
- January 22, 2023 - Luke Shepardson
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