Luke Shepardson: 2023 Eddie Aikau Champion
“Eddie would go,” is a common refrain among big wave surfers and fans alike. The phrase embodies the go-for-broke, “just send it” attitude required for the pursuit, and it also pays tribute to beloved North Shore surfer Eddie Aikau. However, there’s only one time of year where that phrase feels truly appropriate, and that is on the eve of the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational.
The surfing world’s premiere big wave contest, commonly known as “The Eddie,” only runs if wave face heights at Waimea Bay on the North Shore of Oahu consistently reach 40-feet within a 90-day waiting period during Hawai’i’s winter. As such, the event has only run 10 times since it began in 1984. However, according to an update on the Eddie Aikau website and Instagram page, The Eddie is currently on yellow alert.
The competition operates on a color coded system of alerts. Red means the event will not run within the next seven days, yellow means standby in five to seven days, and green means the event will run within two to three days. The alerts are updated weekly, from December 14 to March 13.
“I’m here at Waimea Bay and I’ve got some big news,” said Liam McNamara during the update. “The Rip Curl Eddie Aikau Invitational is in a yellow pattern. This means we’re closely monitoring Sunday the 22nd. The swell, it looks to arrive on time, it looks to be good conditions, good direction…and also very big.”
He went on to clarify that a further update on the event will come Friday, when they will make the call on whether to go green for Sunday.
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