Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 27, Number 1, 1 Ianuali 2010 — EDDIE LIVES ON! [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

EDDIE LIVES ON!

On the 25th anniversary of the Quiksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau, the conditions were finally ripe to hold the first competition in five years, and fans turned out in force for the event Dec. 8 at Waimea Bay on 0'ahu's North Shore. Among the international field of competitors tackling the requisite 40-foot waves was 60-year-old Clyde Aikau, of Waimānalo, O'ahu, who told KWO that he eame "ready to rock 'n' roll!" Aikau, who won the 1986 competition named for his younger brother who was lost at sea in 1978 trying to get help for the capsized Hōkūle'a voyaging eanoe, said the Aikau hasn't seen waves that big in two decades. The forecasted conditions led him to tell surfers who paddled out to sea during the Dec. 3 opening ceremonies that it was OK not to surf if they weren't 101 percent physically and mentally prepared for it. "You ean always surf next year," he recalls telling the group. On competition day, about four or five surfers took him up on that, allowing alternates to compete in their plaee. In the end, Greg Long of

California placed first, followed by Kelly Slater of Florida and Sunny Garcia of Hawai'i. Aikau placed 22nd. "If it's meant to be for you to win, it's going to be," said Aikau, who runs the Aikau Pure Hawaiian Surf Academy at the Hihon Hawaiian Village and works part-time for the state Department of Education to get tutoring, transportation, food and other necessities to enahle homeless children to attend school. "You might not be able to give your life for someone," Aikau said, "but to help someone out is what Eddie's spirit is all about." ■

V~HPūrts paani

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Glorified front and center. - Photo: Courtesy ofKaryle Saiki

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The view from Waimea Valley. - Photo: Courtesy of Hi'ipaka LLC (Laurent Pool)