Eddie went. And he probably would have won. Photo: Hawaiian: The Legend of Eddie Aikau
While watching The Eddie Big Wave Invitational In Memory of Eddie Aikau, which ran in such spectacular fashion at Waimea Bay a few days ago, and marveling at the rides of eventual winner Landon McNamara’s, including his “perfect” monster elevator drop, I couldn’t help but be impressed not only by his gutsy performance, but those of so many of his fellow competitors. At the same time, however, as I watched the manner in which this talented, new generation of big wave riders tackled the Bay, it occurred to me that if Eddie Aikau himself was in the contest, he probably would’ve won.
I’m not talking about an Eddie surfing the way he did during the early-to-mid 1970s, when he was one of the most consistent finalists on the Hawaiian pro circuit, but the way he surfed on November 19, 1967, when, on what many were calling the biggest day ever ridden at Waimea Bay up to that point, the 21-year-old Hawaiian put on a masterful performance that could’ve just as easily won his namesake event last week.
I’ll say here that this isn’t just idle speculation. During the filming of my 2014 documentary, Hawaiian: The Legend of Eddie Aikau, produced for ESPN’s popular “30 for 30” series, I had the great privilege of interviewing some of the legendary surfers who were out that day in 1967, surfing alongside the young Eddie. And the memory was obviously still with them.
“He was just the brightest star out there,” says North Shore pioneer Kimo Hollinger (1939-2023). “Eddie didn’t take off where everybody else took off. He took off deeper.”
The 1968 World Champion, Fred Hemmings, no stranger to the Bay’s deep and steep, recalls one of Eddie’s waves in particular.
“There’s this famous picture of it,” Hemmings says. “He’s hung up at the top of the lip, and the peak’s in front of him. But Eddie had an ability to take off and penetrate the wave.”
And 1967 Duke Invitational winner Dr. Ricky Grigg (1937-2014) heartily agreed.
“Eddie would just plant his back leg, and just crank the tail of the board,” recalls Grigg. “Carving it into the middle of the face, throwing his arm out, and just taking over the power of the wave. And then he’d just chew it up.”
Keep in mind, I wasn’t judging Eddie’s theoretical first and second-round heats based solely on the memories of his peers, but from existing footage of that epic November 17th, which fully backs up their claims. Greg MacGillivray’s and Jim Freeman’s Free and Easy (1967) provided the best coverage of that memorable day, capturing Eddie’s heroics in sharp focus and living color. Renowned surf historian Matt Warshaw, also featured in the documentary, was well familiar with Free and Easy’s Waimea sequence.
That famous red board and famous surf trunks. Photo: Hawaiian: The Legend of Eddie Aikau
“It wasn’t just that he went out there and surfed for longer and better than anybody else,” Warshaw says. “He also paddled out on that beautiful red surfboard, and had on those white trunks, with the red stripe. So yeah, after seeing 25 white-skinned guys drop down those huge waves, to see this dark-skinned Hawaiian, with the white-and red trunks and red surfboard, it just jumped out at you. This, and in situations where every other surfer in the world would’ve jumped off, or at the very least tensed up, it seemed like he couldn’t have been more at ease on these gigantic waves. He looked like the perfect big wave surfer.”
But let’s back up and talk about that “beautiful red surfboard,” a 10’6” Hobie pintail, shaped for Eddie in 1965 by legendary shaper/designer Dick Brewer. Heavy (trust me, in more ways than one) with a veritable redwood 2×4 for a stringer, the thing’s a beast by modern standards, but compared to equipment being ridden today, this mighty machine may have provided Eddie with an advantage many of last week’s competitors could’ve used. Not only did its 30-pound weight, when paddled up to speed, maintain impressive momentum (which I can attest to personally, the Aikau clan having graciously allowed me to paddle Eddie’s famous board during the film’s production, a profound surfing experience if there ever was one), but with Brewer’s slight nose belly and deep-tail concave bottom, under Eddie’s feet the board was a juggernaut: not a hint of chatter, bouncing or, God forbid, chop-hops.
So, to review. Taking off deeper than anyone else, with the ability to penetrate the wave early and draw an innovative line across the middle of the face to the shoulder, on a board that plowed through closeout bump and Jet Ski wakes like a bulldozer, performing all of this with consummate cool; it’s pretty clear this combination of skill, commitment and raw talent could’ve easily have won Eddie this last “Eddie.”
Which to me is what makes Landon’s win so special: he won the sport’s most prestigious contest by surfing much as Eddie would have himself. Taking off late, behind the peak, coolly negotiating the elevator drop, then emerging triumphant following the whitewater explosion. Proving, without a doubt, that Landon would go, like Eddie went.
And can you think of a better way to honor the man?
