For the first time since 2009, the Eddie is on.
For the first time since 2009, the Eddie is on.
The Quiksilver In Memory of Eddie Aikau will go Wednesday at Waimea Bay.
Organizers gave the event the green light early Monday morning after consulting the latest round of forecasting models. This will be the 9th “Eddie” in 31 years. The event was last held in December of 2009, and was won by California’s Greg Long.
Organizers anticipate a solid day of surf that will meet the event’s strict wave face height requirement of 40 feet, with favorable light winds in the morning, turning light trades by afternoon.
“It has taken us six years to pull the trigger, but this is the first swell we have seen that is truly lining up as an Eddie swell,” said Event Director Glen Moncata.
Moncata and the organizing team continue to confer with event patriarch George Downing, who has made the call on every event since its inception.
“As George has famously said, ‘The Bay Calls the Day’ and that will be Wednesday,” added Moncata.
Just 31 years of age when he was lost at sea during an ill-fated voyage on Hawaii’s Hokule’a double-hull sailing canoe in 1978, Aikau was a young man at the height of a career equally dedicated to big-wave riding and lifeguarding at historic Waimea Bay. Filled with a pure passion to ride giant surf, take care of his fellow man, and uphold his Hawaiian culture and family values, Aikau became the benchmark by which all big wave riders are measured.
There will be various platforms on which to view the Quiksilver In Memory of Eddie Aikau:
It will be live on Oceanic Time Warner Cable channels 250 and 1250HD, and streaming on the internet at quiksilver.com/eddie and worldsurfleague.com.
EVENT HEAT DRAW
Heat 1
Shane Dorian (Hawaii)
Kohl Christensen (Hawaii)
Greg Long (California)
Ramon Navarro (Hawaii)
Sunny Garcia (Hawaii)
Ross Clarke-Jones (Australia)
Jamie Mitchell (Australia)
Heat 2
Kelly Slater (Flordia)
David Wassell (Hawaii)
Grant Baker (South Africa)
Reef McIntosh (Hawaii)
Jamie O’Brien (Hawaii)
Aaron Gold (Hawaii)
Tom Carroll (Australia)
Heat 3
John John Florence (Hawaii)
Mark Healey (Hawaii)
Clyde Aikau (Hawaii)
Nathan Fletcher (California)
Noah Johnson (Hawaii)
Peter Mel (California)
Takayuki Wakita (Japan)
Heat 4
Bruce Irons (Hawaii)
Makuakai Rothman (Hawaii)
Ian Walsh (Hawaii)
Albee Layer (Hawaii)
Kala Alexander (Hawaii)
Garrett McNamara (Hawaii)
Jeremy Flores (France)
TOP 5 ALTERNATES
Mason Ho (Hawaii)
Danilo Couto (Brazil)
Mark Mathews (Australia)
Koa Rothman (Hawaii)
Ben Wilkinson (Australia)