Long braves huge Waimea waves to take memorial event

Few sports celebrate their mythology as successfully as surfing, as was evident on the island of Oahu on Tuesday, writes KEITH DUGGAN

SURFING MAY be the most democratic sport of all. At this week’s In Memory of Eddie Aikau contest, held in Hawaii, the 28 competitors were selected through a poll of the general surfing community. Few sports celebrate their own mythology as successfully as surfing, and what happened in the crashing waters of Waimea beach on Tuesday will add to its folklore.

Hunting big waves is nothing new, but unprecedented advances in technology and the instant availability of images have transformed the escapades of the elite, big-wave surfers into cult heroes with a global following. Greg Long, a 26-year-old Californian, won this year’s Eddie Aikau competition to collect the relatively modest sum of €17,000.

The fierce ideological divide between the ethos of surfing for its own sake and the competitive surf world which fronts an increasingly lucrative industry is decades old and will continue for decades to come. But the Hawaii event, which is only held when the waves are deemed sufficiently powerful (this was just the seventh competition in 25 years), manages to strike the perfect note.

Although it is a competition with prize money, it attracts the best surfers in the world at a moment’s notice because it promises the chance to surf waves that appear once every decade.

As Long said afterwards: “It really is about the wave and celebrating the ocean. It’s what we do: go out there and ride big waves. The respect and camaraderie in the line-up you don’t find in too many places in the world, and this event really encapsulates everything that is great about surfing – the friendships you make in the water and looking out for one another.”

Last weekend, bulletins announcing that a series of North Pacific storms had produced once-in-a-decade swells were enough to bring a rush of pro surfers and a swell of enthusiasts to Waimea beach on the island of Oahu. Waimea had been the home beach of Eddie Aikau, the celebrated Hawaiian who worked as a lifeguard and surfed the beach until his premature death in 1978. Aikau was taking part in an epic recreation of the 4,000km Polynesian migration from the Hawaiian to Tahitian islands when the canoe in which his team was rowing capsized. He attempted to paddle to the island of Lanai on his surfboard to get help. The remaining crew was rescued, but Aikau was never seen again, despite the biggest sea search in local history.

That quasi-mystical disappearance prompted Quiksilver, the brand leaders in surfing merchandise, to sponsor the tournament in his honour, with waves of 30 feet plus being the only proviso.

Aikau’s brother Clyde, now 60, was among the competitors in Tuesday’s afternoon’s spectacular.

It fell to George Downing, the 79-year-old organiser, to call this year’s Eddie on. Surfing is part beach bumming and part meteorological nerdiness. Downing pored over weather charts before passing the temptation to hold the event on Monday, correctly predicting that Tuesday would yield superior waves.

So it was that some of the best surfers on the planet paddled out to pit their wits against the most ferocious waves Waimea can produce. Long beat his childhood idol – and reigning Aikau tournament champion – Kelly Slater to win the event.

The promising weather conditions meant most of the competing field flew on to San Francisco to travel to Half Moon Bay in the hope that the Mavericks contest will be held later this week. The surfers with the best performances in all the contests will be adjudicated in the Global Big Wave awards, which take place next spring.