Drop in on bombs on guns, not drop bombs and shoot guns. Photo: Zak Noyle
After weeks of deadlock, Quiksilver and the Aikau family have made amends and agreed to go ahead with this year’s Eddie. Quik and the family released a joint statement on Monday announcing that the event will go forward and set the opening ceremony for Thursday.
Among the list of alternate invitees was Keala Kennelly, making her the first woman to receive an invitation to the prestigious big wave contest. And another first: father-son duo Mason and Michael Ho are invited, the first time father and son could compete side-by-side in the event.
Until Monday, the outlook for this winter’s Eddie looked dubious. Earlier in the year, the Aikaus announced that they were nixing Quiksilver as the event sponsor, and permitting made it appear that no one else could hold the event.
“This is a really special day for all of us, the Aikau family, to really be smiling a lot,” Clyde Aikau told reporters. “I think what’s real important is that the sponsors finally realized that what is important to this family is larger than all the money you could offer the family, and larger than almost anything, trying to preserve what Eddie Aikau is all about, his legacy, saving lives, helping people is what this family is all about.”
Kennelly is eleventh on the alternate list, so the chances of her competing are slim. Of Kennelly, Aikau said: “I still ride big waves and I’m right in the mix on who’s doing the great riding, big-wave riding, and the young lady has done tremendous riding at the big wave spots all over the world,” said Clyde Aikau. “She’s very outstanding, a real ‘Eddie would go’ attitude.”
These are the invitees:
Aaron Gold
Bruce Irons
Billy Kemper
Dave Wassel
Ezekiel Lau
Garrett McNamara
Grant Baker
Greg Long
Ian Walsh
Jamie Mitchell
Jamie O’Brien
Jeremy Flores
John John Florence
Kala Alexander
Kelly Slater
Koa Rothman
Kohl Christensen
Landon McNamara
Makua Rothman
Mark Healey
Mason Ho
Michael Ho
Reef McIntosh
Ross Clarke-Jones
Shane Dorian
Sunny Garcia
Takayuki Wakita
Tom Carroll
These are the alternates, in order of how they’d be chosen to compete:
Luke Shepherd
Kai Lenny
Nathan Fletcher
Noah Johnson
Nathan Florence
Ramon Navarro
Kealii Mamala
Pedro Calado
Jamie Sterling
Nic Lamb
Keala Kennelly
Danilo Couto
Mark Mathews
Kalani Chapman
Ben Wilkinson
Gabriel Villaran
Damien Hobgood
Kahea Hart
Ryan Hipwood
Carlos Burle
Kyle Shipman
Danny Fuller
Anthony Tashnick
Rusty Long
