

The timestamp is only as accurate as the clock in the camera, and it may be completely wrong. If the file has been modified from its original state, some details such as the timestamp may not fully reflect those of the original file. Despite money not being a motivational factor to surfers hoping to compete in the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational, a total of 45,500 in prize money was distributed following Sunday’s event.
EDDIE AIKAU INVITATIONAL 2021 SOFTWARE
"To see women - not only women surfing Waimea but women and men sharing the same event together, with mutual respect and equality - I'm just really thrilled at the thought," Pennybacker said.This file contains additional information such as Exif metadata which may have been added by the digital camera, scanner, or software program used to create or digitize it. She said women had to fight to be included and have meanwhile shown that they could handle big waves in spots around the world. Mindy Pennybacker, a surf columnist for the Honolulu Star-Advertiser and author of the upcoming book, "Surfing Sisterhood Hawaii: Wahine Reclaiming the Waves," said there's long been an assumption that Waimea was too dangerous for women and they couldn't surf there. Keala Kennelly of Kauai, a women's big wave surf champion, was among the female invitees.

This year, organizers invited 40 competitors and 18 alternates from around the world, including Kelly Slater, who has won a record 11 world surfing titles. We're surfing in the spirit of Eddie,' " Coleman said. The Aikau Family and the Eddie Aikau Foundation are planning to conduct THE EDDIE 2022-2023 Big Wave Invitational Surf Contest, Details will be available. "They always say at the opening ceremony, where they gather to launch the holding period, 'This is not just a contest. The morning rose with a rising swell hitting the buoy at 29. Shepardson, a 27-year-old local on-duty lifeguard, claimed one of the most prestigious surfing competitions in the world in front of 50,000 spectators. Coast Guard rescued the remaining crew a few hours later after being alerted by a commercial plane that spotted the canoe.Ĭoleman said The Eddie is about the best of big-wave surfing and the best of Hawaiian culture. Luke Shepardson has taken out The Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational at Waimea Bay in Hawaii. Aikau volunteered to paddle several miles to nearby Lanai Island on his surfboard to get help for the rest of the crew but was never seen again. Just hours out of port, the giant double-hulled canoe known as the Hokulea took on water and overturned in stormy weather. He is also famous for surfing towering waves that no one else would dare ride.Īikau died in 1978 at the age of 31 during an expedition to sail a traditional Polynesian voyaging canoe from Honolulu to Tahiti. "What makes this contest the most unique is that it's in memory of a particular individual who really has transcended his time and place when he lived," said Coleman, who wrote "Eddie Would Go," a biography of Aikau.Įdward Ryon Makuahanai Aikau rose to prominence as the first lifeguard hired by Honolulu to work on Oahu's North Shore and was revered for saving over 500 people during his career. But author Stuart Coleman says The Eddie is distinguished by how it honors Eddie Aikau, a legendary Native Hawaiian waterman, for his selflessness, courage and sacrifice. Other places around the world have big wave surfing events: Mavericks in California, Nazare in Portugal and Peahi on Hawaii's Maui Island. It is as good as it gets," said surfer and lifeguard Dave Wassel. "This is an epic Eddie Aikau Invitational. Over the course of the event, lifeguards said they rescued at least 64 people at the bay and issued more than 10,000 preventive warnings to those too close to the shore break. Before this year, conditions have only aligned for it to be held nine times since the initial competition in 1984. That's equivalent to about 40 feet when measured by methods used in the rest of the U.S. "Large enough" means 20 feet by Hawaii measurements. 22, 2023, at Waimea Bay on the North Shore of Oahu in Hawaii. Hawaiian surfer Jake Maki rides a wave as fellow Hawaiian surfer Keala Kennely gets wiped out during The Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational surfing contest on Jan. The wind, the tides and the direction of the swell also have to be just right.

The event - alternatively known simply as "The Eddie" - is a one-day contest held in Waimea Bay on Oahu's North Shore only when the surf is consistently large enough during the winter big-wave surfing season from mid-December through mid-March. Honolulu - One of the world's most prestigious and storied surfing contests - dubbed the "Super Bowl of Surfing" - went forward Sunday in Hawaii for the first time in seven years with towering wave faces and a gigantic swell.Īnd this year female surfers competed alongside the men for the first time in the 39-year history of The Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational.
