While the contest organizers were discussing whether to put it on, Mark Foo looked at the conditions and said "Eddie would go." The phrase stuck. The waves were huge and the conditions were extremely dangerous. The phrase originated during the first Eddie contest. That's where the saying came from – Eddie would go, when no one else would or could. According to maritime historian Mac Simpson, "Aikau was a legend on the North Shore, pulling people out of waves that no one else would dare to. In the 1980s, bumper stickers and T-shirts with the phrase "Eddie Would Go" spread around the Hawaiian Islands and to the rest of the world. The event does not allow the use of jet skis to tow surfers into the waves. The contest invites only 28 big-wave riders to participate in two rounds of competition. The first Eddie was held at Sunset Beach in 1985 in 1987 Eddie Aikau's younger brother Clyde Aikau won the Eddie after it moved to Waimea Bay ), The most recent tournament was in January 2023, when waves in the bay reached 30 to 50 feet (15 m) high. Since its inception in 1985 the tournament has only been held 10 times, due to a precondition that open-ocean swells reach a minimum of 20 feet (this translates to a wave face height of over 30 feet). The event was cancelled for 2017 but the AiKau has brought it back with largely local sponsors for 2018-19 – the Quiksilver Big Wave Invitational in Memory of Eddie Aikau at Waimea Bay. In Aikau's honor, the surfwear company Quiksilver sponsored “The Eddie” until 2016. The ensuing search for Aikau was the largest air-sea search in Hawaiian history. He removed his life jacket since it was hindering his paddling of the surfboard. Coast Guard Cutter Cape Corwin, Aikau's body was never found. Although the rest of the crew were later rescued by the U.S. In an attempt to get help, Aikau paddled toward Lānaʻi on his surfboard. It developed a leak in one of its hulls and later capsized about twelve miles (19 km) south of the island of Molokaʻi. The double-hulled voyaging canoe Hōkūleʻa left the Hawaiian islands on March 16, 1978. Aikau joined the voyage as a crew member. In 1978, the Polynesian Voyaging Society was seeking volunteers for a 30-day, 2,500-mile (4,000 km) journey to re-enact the ancient route of the Polynesian migration between the Hawaiian and Tahitian island chains. On February 28, 1978, TV producer John Orland was the last person Aikau rescued at Waimea Bay. In 1977 Aikau won the Duke Kahanamoku Invitational Surfing Championship. In 1971, Aikau was named Lifeguard of the Year. Not one life was lost while he served as lifeguard of Waimea Bay, as he braved waves that often reached 30 feet (9.1 m) high or more, and saved the lives of more than 500 swimmers. The City & County of Honolulu gave Aikau the task of covering all of the beaches between Sunset and Haleiwa. In 1968, he became the first lifeguard hired by the City & County of Honolulu to work on the North Shore. He moved to Oʻahu with his family in 1959, and at the age of 16 left school and started working at the Dole pineapple cannery the paycheck allowed Aikau to buy his first surfboard. Aikau first learned how to surf on the shorebreak of Kahului Harbor. He was a descendant of Hewahewa, the kahuna nui (high priest) of King Kamehameha I and his successor Kamehameha II. The words Makua Hanai in Eddie Aikau's full name means feeding parent, an adoptive, nurturing, fostering parent, in the Hawaiian language. Life īorn in Kahului, Maui, Aikau was the second child of Solomon and Henrietta Aikau. He was also a crew member on the Polynesian voyaging canoe Hōkūleʻa. The Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational ("The Eddie") is named in his honor. As the first lifeguard at Waimea Bay on the island of Oahu, he saved over 500 people and became famous for surfing the big Hawaiian surf, winning several awards including the 1977 Duke Kahanamoku Invitational Surfing Championship. Waimea Bay (North Shore, Oahu), Sunset Beach (North Shore, Oahu), Pipeline (North Shore, Oahu)Įdward Ryon Makuahanai Aikau ( Kahului, Hawaii, – March 17, 1978) was a Hawaiian lifeguard and surfer. Off Molokai/ Lanai, Hawaii, United States Kahului, Territory of Hawaii, United States
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