Page 4 - MidWeek West - April 13, 2022

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APRIL 13, 2022
Aloha surfers and beachgoers,
April Fools came and went so fast, it was a joke.
BY GARY KEWLEY
The Eddie Debuts New Contest Format In Waimea
what you’re doing. Tons of experience is mandatory. Waimea is already jammed tighter than Middle Street merge in prime drive time. Plus, this place is danger- ous — heavy duty danger- ous. This is not your “go for broke” stardom opportunity or some “flash in the pan” popularity contest. Lives are on the line every time the bay gets big.
Of course, I performed my annual surf jokester report on TV, radio and 808-596-SURF with “Wow, it’s the same size surf around the whole is- land, a rare phenomenon. It’s pumping 4-6 feet on the North Shore, Mākaha, town and even Sandy’s and Makapu‘u. All are 4-6 feet with perfect offshores!”
we can tell we’ve moved on from the XL winter surf is that the season closed (Feb. 28) for the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational at Waimea. They didn’t get that special XXL all day at the bay.
and its Eddie Aikau Founda- tion wished to do more and do it more often for Eddie’s leg- acy — while continuing their epic surf standard at Waimea — they’ve sweetened the deal with a new addition to the for- mat.
dleboard World Champion- ships-turned-big wave war- rior/champion. At 45, he’s still pushing it to the limit. In fact, he just recovered from break- ing his back at 35-foot Nazaré in Portugal. But, that didn’t stop him. Mitchell hates miss- ing opportunities.
This “man-kid” free fell 20 feet straight down the Waimea elevator shaft under a 10-foot thick lip and into oblivion. He covered his head while his board twirled just above. The Waimea beast was huge and thick and throwing. Maki was in the spot, in the pit and just went for it. The judges noticed and realized this truly was an “Eddie Would Go” moment.
Some folks are still caught off guard for a split second — until I mention the date.
This contest is open to all big wave riders all winter. Just submit your best photo and/ or video of your crazy ride(s) at Waimea. The winner gets $10,000, plus an invite into next year’s competition!
Well, guess what? We have a winner. Two, in fact.
Maki will be one of the youngest in the long-storied history of The Eddie coming up in 2022-23.
Anyway, one of the ways
Because the Aikau family
Caution: you have to know
gary@surfnewsnetwork.com
The holding period has al- ways been three months: Dec. 1 through the end of February. This most prestigious event holds such a high standard for wave size and consisten- cy that The Eddie has only gone eight times in its 36-year history (it began 1985-1986). That’s an average of running only once every 4.5 years.
If The Eddie does not “go,” they will now have The Eddie Aikau Wave of the Bay.
The other winner is Jake Maki, a 17-year-young hard charger originally from the Big Island, now living at Sun- set Beach. He’s a Pipe and Waimea regular and, oh, he explores the outer reefs with skill, finesse and guts. Maki did not even make his win- ning wave.
One is Australian Jamie Mitchell, a legendary 10- time consecutive winner of the Moloka‘i 2 O‘ahu Pad-
GQ, droppin’ in 4 U!
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