Australian surfers get their kicks on the combers at Sydney’s Neilson Park, zipping through shark nets so ragged that they no longer stop sharks, only surfers. At Huntington Beach, California, the gasser is “pier shooting”—hurtling between the concrete pilings of a pier. But these pastimes are only makeshift substitutes for riding the “heavies” off Makaha, a lonely beach on the west coast of Oahu that is every surfer’s idea of paradise.

The giant waves that pound Makaha are spawned by violent Pacific storms, often 2,000 miles or more from Hawaii. On a really big day they may top 25 ft. Even the 15-footers provide a hair-raising test as they come rumbling over the reef. But there are days when Makaha is no wilder than Waikiki—as 441 contestants from as far away as Peru and South Africa found out when they converged on Makaha for the International Surfing Championships, the World Series of the sport. For five days anxious surfers vainly scanned the horizon. Finally, on the day before Christmas, 15-ft. waves began to crest off Makaha Point; competitors dashed for their “guns”—long, heavy (up to 40 lbs.) boards for use in big surf—and 8,000 spectators jammed the beach to watch the fun.

To make things more interesting, the surfers were required to follow a zigzag course, much like a slalom ski run. Judges deducted points for such infractions as “bottom turning”—cutting in front of another surfer knifing down the wave. The surprise winner: Honolulu schoolboy Fred Hemmings Jr., 18, who became surfing’s youngest world champion ever by riding three waves 600 yards or so, tucking himself out of sight in “the pipe” (the fastest, most dangerous part of the wave, where it rolls over and down) to gain speed, sliding around the buoys without losing “the green”—the unbroken portion of the wave.

“I just had a fast board,” said Hemmings.

The judges had a different explanation: “He took more chances.”

“Hemmings, of Course,” by Fred van Dyke, 

It was the year of the frogs at the Makaha International Surfing Contest, a Merry Christmas for husky Fred Hemmings fresh from the Junior ranks and a Happy New Year for Joyce Hoffman and the tandem team of Mike Doyle and Margie Stevens. In the great tradition of Makaha contests there was grumbling galore from the crowd-packed beach about judging, parking, and the smell of slightly dead frogs.

But all in all, it was a good one. There were no second guesses about the top finishers’ richly-deserved victories. Hemmings, Hoffman and Doyle did themselves proud in the carnival-colorful contest capping the tournament year.

For the Juniors it was Mele Kalikimaka in an all-Hawaiian finish. First was Joey Gerard followed by Richard Trier and then Aka Hemmings, the 12-year-old brother of the Men’s champ.

The frogs arrived a day earlier, washed down the rain-flooded Makaha Valley after a storm poured five inches of rain on Oahu and postponed the December 19 scheduled opening. The frogs stayed for the competition next day. Some died like cowardly hodads in the rain-soaked parking lot. Others headed for the action on the beach strewn with thousands of fans, plus concession stands and vendors. Some of the frogs even tried the surf.

If there were any frogs among the 189 contestants battling Kona-pushed swells in the Men’s prelims, they didn’t place. After eight heats there were only 48 survivors for the semifinals. The casualty list was a Who’s Who on surfing.

The surf was perhaps the most challenging of any Makaha contest. It was big—around 10 to 12 feet on the sets. It was also blowing onshore with a horrible chop, and the sky was overcast.

On the beach, Fred Hemmings, Mike Doyle, Butch Van Artsdalen and two-time Makaha champ George Downing rehashed their heats. Somebody said: “The surf’s rough. It’s mighty hard to do anything on a wave. Just stand up and ease into turns, nothing fast. It’s impossible to line-up and get a good ride. It’s got size—but those southwest winds! I can’t ride it.”

But ride it they did and amazingly well for the lack of quality. Best of the day were Hemmings, Van Artsdalen, Downing, Paul Strauch, and Rick Steere.

Hemmings took chances and blasted soup, hung high, and attempted turns. He swam once, but also got spectacular rides. On the beach, he had praise for his concave board. Hemmings said the board gave a smooth ride even in the heaviest chop. He fell when he hung too high in a section that suddenly sucked over.

Casting a veteran’s eye on the surf was Walter Hoffman, 1954 Makaha tandem winner and stepfather of this year’s Women’s champ. Turning to Downing, Hoffman said, “On a day like this anyone can do well—if he has a little luck.”

Downing shook his head. “No, not luck—waves. If you get the waves, you win.”

For three days Kona winds pushed Makaha out of shape. The contest was put on hold. Then the day before Christmas the wind dropped and sets of ten- to 15-foot marched on the beach for a challenging Men’s finale. Out went the word—-the contest is back on! Cars clogged the two-lane road twisting 35 miles from Honolulu. Many beat the traffic and two-dollar parking fees by camping on the beach. Some people slept in cars. Others pitched tents ranging from patched pup to canvas splendor fit for an Arabian sheik. One Christmas-minded camper decked the beach in front of his digs with a tinsel-decorated Christmas tree.

Conditions were difficult but rideable when the first of three heats took to the water. There were 55 semifinalists scrambling for glory—48 survivors of the first day of competition plus seven surfers seeded because of victories in regional area championships. Those seeded were Ken Adler of Australia, Reginald Blunt of South Africa, Jeane Pierre Laussade of France, Peru’s Filipe Pomar and Californians Richard Chew, Skip Frye, and Mike Hynson.

On the beach, 8,000 fans squinted seaward as Makaha was ripped apart by great surfers. There was plenty of action—at times too much action, with as many as 18 contestants in the water at the same time. This was a complaint often heard later as surfers asked: “How could the judges watch everybody in a mess like that?” But when the bullhorn sounded shortly before noon, the judges had decided. There were an even dozen left, plus Joey Cabell, who as defending champion qualified automatically for the finals. None of the seeded semifinalists survived.

When the 13 finalists paddled out there were four former Makaha champs among them: Downing (’54 and ’61), Rabbit Kekai (’55), Buffalo Keaulana (’60), and Cabell (’63).

Others in the finals: Boots Mathews (runnerup last year), Tommy Lee, Harold Holley, Rick Steere, Bobby Cloutier, Harold Iggy, Howard Chapleau, Paul Strauch, and, of course, 18-year-old Hemmings, last year’s Junior champ and rugged football center at Honolulu’s Punahou Prep School.

Makaha met its match in Hemmings. The waves were tricky, a good 12 feet and uneven, but Hemmings treated them with almost insolent contempt. He rode the way he played football at Punahou—aggressively and with no thought of finishing anywhere but first.

In rare form, Hemmings caught six waves, all in the point area. Hemmings was after maximum points, facing the turbulent bowl—risking a wipe-out for the long ride. This meant more points under a much-criticized scoring system that stressed distance over performance.

Hemmings latched onto one 12-footer near the Point and was driving across the wall into the bowl when the wave sectioned ahead. Almost covered with ten feet of boiling whitewater, Hemmings blasted through to green water—and he didn’t break his trim! Sliding to the final turning buoy just outside the shorebreak, Hemmings ended the ride with a flashy spinner and a grin at the judges’ tower. A masterful performance.

When the tally sheets were counted, Hemmings had scored an impressive 90 points of a possible 120 for his three best rides. Tied for second with 83 points each were Strauch and Keaulana, but Strauch got the nod for a better score on a fourth wave.

Hemmings, a polio victim at six years old and a surfer since he was nine, took his victory in modest stride. “As a local boy who knows Makaha," he said, "I had a definite advantage.”

Defending champ Cabell, nursing an injured ankle, managed fourth with 80 points, and the handsome surfer-skier had no complaints.

“I didn’t deserve better than fourth, that’s for sure,” Cabell said. He added that he was bothered by the ankle he chipped a few weeks earlier while ice-skating at a Colorado resort where he owns a restaurant. The ankle was heavily taped for the contest.

The surf dropped on Christmas Day and was two- to four-foot for the Juniors, Womens and Tandem competition on the following weekend. However, the lack of surf didn’t stop Joyce Hoffman. The 17-year-old blonde showed the hotdogging style she learned in front of her seaside Capistrano Beach home and nosed out Joey Hamasaki, DeeDee Arevalos and defending Makaha champ Nancy Nelson.

The Tandem event was a thing of beauty. The surf was almost nonexistent, but the performers were superb.

Duke Kahanamoku was on hand to pass out the trophies, including a new one bearing his name. This was for good sportsmanship and went to Paul Strauch.

No voices were heard disputing the winners’ claim to their shining trophies, but there were gripes nonetheless. Criticism hit these points: 1. Too many contestants in prelim heats. 2. A judging format that gave 30 points for a ride from farthest outside buoy to shore and only 10 points for maximum performance. 3. Too many local judges.

Hobie Alter and Walt Hoffman theorized the contest could be won by never standing up on a wave—just ride prone from takeoff through the bowl all the way to the beach and pick up 30 points.

Thor Svenson of the Windansea Surf Club said giving 30 points for length of ride and only 10 for performance was “not adequate in view of the skills modem surfers have developed.”

Veteran big-wave rider Wally Froiseth, president of the Waikiki Surf Club and an organizer of the Makaha Contest, did not agree.

“This isn’t the Huntington contest. Those rules won’t work here,” Froiseth said. The reason for stressing distance, he added, was to encourage contestants to really turn on—ride the wave from the outside, cut back from the outside buoy, then hot-dog until they reach the inside turning buoy near the shore. This system, he said, presents the most challenge.

Commenting on the judging, Froiseth said all judges went through a 12-hour indoctrination—a program he thought other contests could copy.

Complaints about judging bias, however, echoed all the way to the Mainland where the Los Angeles 

 reported the contest under the headline; IS HAWAII FIXING ITS SURF CONTEST? The article featured comments by Bob Feigel, who identified himself as an official of the United States Surfing Association. Feigel, who was not at the Makaha contest, was quoted as saying: “The general consensus is that the California surfers were treated grossly unfair—as they have been in the past. Resident Hawaiians are the judges of the contest. In my opinion, their friendship with Hawaiian contestants and the resentment of California surfers invading their waters influences their decisions.”

Mickey Munoz, who was at the contest, disagreed: “The contest isn’t fixed. Hemmings won it hands down. But the judging methods are archaic and their ideas outdated—15 years ago the methods would have been valid, but today they’re not.”

When contacted, USSA President Hoppy Swarts said, “Feigel was not authorized to speak on behalf of the USSA.”

Said Windansea president, Chuck Hasley: “There’s no doubt in my mind that Fred Hemmings won the Senior Men’s. The contest was like all Makaha contests I’ve ever heard about: Okay in some ways, and in other ways it can be improved.”

Commented Don Hansen, who placed 8th in the Tandem: “The end result wasn’t bad—just the way they went about getting it. For example, the preliminary heat with 23 contestants in the water at once was ridiculous."

Rich Harbour, Seal Beach boardmaker: “I’d heard you had to have a Waikiki address to get anywhere, but I didn’t know that until I got there. The contest was a letdown for me, not as good as I had thought.” Jim Graham of the Long Beach Surf Club said, “For most of our team, the trip was a disappointment.”

So that was the 1964 Makaha Championships, plenty of glory, a few gripes and a wry comment or two. Perhaps summing up best was Howard Chapleau, who turned in a good performance in the men’s finals. Driving away from Makaha, Chapleau took a last look at the beach littered with pop bottles, television film boxes and sundry commercial debris. “You know, the sad thing about this whole contest is that all the money that is spent and made I can’t see where surfers got anything out of it. I mean, what was really done for the surfer by having the meet?”

1964 Makaha International Surfing Championships

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