"The Return of Big Wave Competition," by Leonard Brady, SURFER Magazine, July 1986

Twenty-feet was the minimum, not 15 with some 18s and 20s, but 20-foot solid. The small days went by, the standard was held. By mid-January, all the overseas pros who had invitations left for home. Several had questionable Waimea credentials anyway. The original invite sheet, incredibly enough, had listed Roger Erickson, Derrick Doerner, Randy Rarick, Charlie Walker and Owl Chapman as 

. Basically, 50% of the regular Waimea lineup, which these guys are, had been put on the back-burner to make room for the sponsor's favorites. After the oversight was brought up strongly, good judgment prevailed and the "alternates” were moved up to the regular invite list.

The waiting period extended into February. Either it was too big at 40-feet, or too small at 18 (imagine any other contest director telling the competitors, “It’s only 18-foot boys, I’m sure you’re as disappointed as I am.")

On the morning of February 23, George Downing, meet director, needed a firsthand assessment of the borderline out-of-control wave conditions. Without any drama he asked his son Keone to go out and catch a few. Think about it: twenty- to twenty-five-foot surf, onshore, and a pioneer big-wave rider confidently requests his son to jump in and check it out! It is, really, quite the example of the lofty values successfully being passed on (Keone, in turn, is sharing his knowledge with 19-year-old Aaron Napoleon). But these guys are like that—there’s no arrogance; respect abounds. And fittingly, most have nothing but encouragement for the beginning big-wave rider—if he’s got the heart. The Eddie Aikau contest was conceived in this spirit.

Big wave riding, unquestionably, is so very thoroughly different from the other modes of our particular sport. In big surf, one must be willing to give the absolute commitment in order to enjoy or endure the ultimate consequences. Says veteran big wave rider Ricky Grigg, "You can't hesitate once you decide to go. You’ll be taken over the falls, and at Waimea, it’s the most horrifying experience a surfer will go through."

Mike Miller, another Waimea expert, tells of a fellow a few years back from Kauai who wanted to ride the huge surf. He got the right boards, trained, and showed at the right spots. One day at the Bay he didn't penetrate early and got pitched—the classic big-wave horror story. After he popped up and went in, Miller never saw him again, ever. The guy simply disappeared from the scene.

Watching the video after the event, in Jim Hayes’ studio: Dwight Obayashi’s on the inside, Clyde’s in the middle, Owl is furthest over. Together they stroke down what appears, strangely enough, to be only a 10-foot wave. Suddenly the thing jacks to 20. Because Dwight’s on the inside where it’s slightly steeper, he’s up first. Owl, with his 12-foot gun, is up next, then Clyde. Something seems odd. We back up the tape, run it several times. Sure enough, we have a detailed depiction of the Waimea phenomenon of getting sucked back up the face. We run the tape again, stopping at the point where they’re all on their feet. Instead of going down, they’re staying in the same place. Then, incredibly, they begin to be drawn backward, as though walking down the up escalator. The whole time the wave is hollowing out, getting steeper. At this critical stage, they all were able to regain forward motion and penetrate; it was as if the invisible cords suspending them were cut, dumping them into that controlled freefall they paddled out for. The next time someone says, “Waimea is only a drop,” try not to laugh.

Roger Erickson was slightly inside as he slid down his 24-foot wave. The face went vertical too quickly, leaving empty air under Roger’s favorite 10-foot Brewer. A feet-first plunge followed, Roger’s arms outstretched Christ-like in crucifixion. The lip pitched over, tubing him for an instant. The wave exploded like Niagara Falls—precisely why most of us do not want to ride 25-foot Waimea.

Aaron Napoleon finished admirably in the middle of the pack, and Brock surprised everyone by taking 4th place. Two decades ago, all 18- year-old surfing hopefuls knew they had to eventually ride Sunset and Waimea. It was a wonderful paranoia, every wave put you that much closer to that epic day you stepped through barriers and really took off, made the drop. Few actually did, of course, but the high goals did keep surfing aimed in a good direction. The Eddie contest indicated a return of the big surf awareness. That 30 guys will show up on a Sunday with new rhino chasers tells all.

From Clyde's first wave, it looked like he had it covered. Throughout the day he was the man to match. Everyone knew it. He was in the obvious lead. Before the contest, Clyde was the emotional favorite, but in truth, he hadn’t spent as much time on the North Shore as he used to because of his business in town. To win, he’d have to be so far ahead, there could be no question of favoritism.

Mark Foo got the biggest ridden wave of the event and scored a perfect 20 points from all the judges. The contest ended with Mark and Clyde in a tie. George Downing went to the next-highest scored wave for each surfer, and Clyde, in an extra bit of drama, won.

The waiting period next year runs from November through December, and the Eddie will have precedence over all the other contests if Waimea gets big enough. Some of the traveling pros, like Tommy Carroll and Mark Richards, will be invited, The appreciation of big waves and big-wave riders is returning. In the very near future, invitations to surf in this contest will be the most coveted of all.

SIDEBAR: Jack McCoy on Quiksilver meet director George Downing

One day many years ago George Downing and Eddie Aikau were surfing in a contest final together. Eddie turned to George and asked, “Hey George, what do you think of contests?" His reply was, “They are like a crap game.” Eddie was quick to add, “Yeah, except they never give you enough time to roll the dice.”

When Quiksilver asked George to be the meet director of an event to be held in Eddie's memory, Downing knew exactly what to do. First and most important, the contest would be something that Eddie himself would be proud of. With that in mind, George came up with the Quiksilver-Eddie Aikau Invitational concept.

It had to be a big-wave event or nothing at all. Since Eddie was a noted Bay regular, the contest would be held at Waimea in 20' surf or bigger. I asked George, “How will you know if it’s real Waimea?” He replied, “You won't have people playing in the shorebreak."

In the spirit of giving everyone a fair go at “rolling the dice," each surfer would be given two chances to go out and surf. George called for three one-hour heats; each heat would feature ten surfers. The winner would be the surfer who caught and rode the biggest waves of the day.

At the end of that memorable day, it was obvious that the whole event had been very special. No one got hurt, and no one lost—every contestant received some prize money and a silver trophy of Eddie's favorite gun.

The surfing was outstanding. The mood on the beach and in the water was like nothing you've seen for any other event. A full picnic in the park, incredible sportsmanship, and excellent performances out in the water. Best of all, everyone was given a chance to “roll the dice." Something very special happened and I’m sure Eddie is stoked.

1986 Quiksilver / Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational

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