Aikau surf on only when 'Bay calls'
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
Riding giant waves can take away years, if not an entire life, from a surfer.
• What: Big-wave surfing contest that can run only when waves are higher than 20 feet and surfable • When: One-day event; holding period runs from yesterday-Feb. 28, 2002 • Where: Waimea Bay, O'ahu • Who: 24 of the world's best big-wave surfers • Prize money: $55,000 to the winner • Invited competitors: Clyde Aikau (Hawai'i)
But riding them successfully, and victoriously, can add years.
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Quiksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau
Ken Bradshaw (Hawai'i)
Carlos Burle (Brazil)
Tom Carroll (Australia)
Ross Clarke-Jones (Australia)
Darrick Doerner (Hawai'i)
Shane Dorian (Hawai'i)
Keone Downing (Hawai'i)
Sunny Garcia (Hawai'i)
John Gomes (Hawai'i)
Derek Ho (Hawai'i)
Michael Ho (Hawai'i)
Noah Johnson (Hawai'i)
Brian Keaulana (Hawai'i)
Rusty Keaulana (Hawai'i)
Titus Kinimaka (Hawai'i)
Brock Little (Hawai'i)
Peter Mel (California)
Tony Moniz (Hawai'i)
Paul Paterson (Australia)
Tony Ray (Australia)
Kelly Slater (Florida)
Darryl "Flea" Virostko (California)
Ross Williams (Hawai'i)
Australian Ross Clarke-Jones can attest to that. After winning last season's Quiksilver In Memory of Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational, Clarke-Jones' resume has become as powerful as a monster wave at Waimea Bay.
"Winning it last year extended my career, you can put it that way," said Clarke-Jones. "It's undoubtedly the most prestigious and honorable event in surfing. If you can put that in your career portfolio, I think it pretty much puts anything else you can do behind it."
"The Eddie" has, indeed, proved to be the most difficult title to attain in surfing because of its high standards. The contest can run at Waimea Bay only on a day when waves are higher than 20 feet and surfable. It has been completed only four times since its creation in 1986.
"There are several big-wave contests out there now," said Makaha's Brian Keaulana. "But this is the foundation of all of them. This has more meaning, more essence, than probably all the other ones combined."
Only 24 of the best big-wave riders from around the world are invited to compete in the one-day event.
The holding period for this season's contest started yesterday and runs to Feb. 28, 2002. If waves at Waimea Bay do not live up to contest standards during that time frame, the contest will not run.
"We're not going to send the guys out to surf just to surf," said contest director George Downing. "This is a special contest, and we will run it only on that special day when the Bay calls us."
Previously, it has been completed in 1987, '90, '99 and Jan. 12 of this year.
As Downing pointed out: "Surf conditions are very difficult to predict. There's a mystique about not knowing what's out there. We may run (this season), we may not. Nobody knows. That's the beauty of it."
Last season's contest was run in waves that ranged from 15 to 25 feet. Clarke-Jones, 35, consistently rode the largest waves of the day to become the first non-Hawai'i surfer to win the event.
"I basically dedicated 15 years of my life trying to win it," he said. "It's still hard to believe I actually did it."
The other three champions were Clyde Aikau ('87), Keone Downing ('90) and Noah Johnson ('99). All four previous champs have been invited to compete again this season.
The list of competitors is selected by a panel of "80 to 100 individuals who know and follow the sport," according to Downing. An additional list of 24 "alternates" is also selected in case one of the invited competitors is unable to surf on the day the event runs.
The contest was created in 1986 in honor of former Waimea Bay lifeguard and big-wave surfer Eddie Aikau. He was lost at sea during a rescue attempt for the voyaging canoe Hokule'a in 1978.
The contest's slogan, "Eddie Would Go," has become recognized world-wide.
