2024 Eddie Aikau Invitational

With the last Eddie less than two years ago, described by three-time Big Wave World Champ Grant 'Twiggy' Baker as the “days of days”, it was always going to be a hard ask for this Eddie to measure up in comparison.

That event featured beginning to end, non-stop, pumping, massive, clean Waimea. Close-out sets every heat. Huge drops, mental wipeouts and on-duty lifeguard Luke Shephardson winning the whole damn thing riding a Bay close-out set.

Impossible to match that fairy tale.

A north swell with long period meant much of the energy was focussed just north of Waimea in the zone from Outer Logs to Impossibles (Josh Bystrom)

This Eddie was less manic, with long slow periods in between sets especially through the opening round. It finally kicked, straight after a long, long quiet period where Pipe Queen Moana Jones-Wong claimed it was supposed to quieten down for her next heat. Jones-Wong hadn't been able to ride a wave for her opening heat. Within minutes of her presser massive sets began strafing the lineup. Jones-Wong did not paddle out for her second heat.

The day started and ended with a bang. On the opening siren, Emi Erikson paddled into a beyond vertical wall and got pitched from crest to trough. It was one of those wipeouts that makes you wince. Greg Long charged a couple on his last in an Eddie. Slater's longevity, in conjunction with the persistence of Eddie greybeards such as Clyde Aikau, Mike Ho, RCJ, Peter Mel, and Twiggy have distorted time. Greg Long seems ancient, surfing in the Eddie forever, but he hangs up his boots at only 41.

The pace of set waves was slow. Very slow to the point where it seemed the decision to run had been premature. Dave Wassel, multi-time Eddie competitor confessed when he had showed up to the site this morning he was adamant it would not be on. The decision to run was vindicated in stunning fashion at the end of Heat 1 when defending champ Luke Shephardson managed to skitter into a massive bomb, one of the biggest waves of the day. He ran a risky high line cut to avoid getting pitched on the ledge while ten feet of rail line fluttered on the precipice. Shades of Darrick Doerner in the approach and high cut line.

Two women in every heat was an innovation from 2023, where only six women competed - the first in the history of the Eddie. Asked about the presence of women in every heat, Jaws local Paige Alms admitted to “mixed emotions”. Grateful but aware that some of the men “aren't good at sharing.” Alms expressed a hope that in the future they would get their own heat. That seems unlikely with the state of the big wave competition scene today, which is basically non-existent. Jaws is done, with no timeline for a return. A single tow surf comp at Nazare run under the WSL banner is all that is left of a Big Wave World Tour that at one point looked to be a saviour of pro surfing; a chance to finally garner the mainstream attention and attract the dollars the sport has always craved.

Bianca Valenti with a clean entry on a grower (Josh Bystrom)

How did the girls go? Mixed bag but with some very positive performances. Getting a wave count up was the first order of business. Emi Erikson bagged three in her heat, Laura Enever only rode one, but it was solid with the ensuing wipeout delivering a fin gash which ruled her out of the comp. Flick bagged a couple in Heat 4.

For the second round of heats, quantity, as Stalin was wont to say, was its own quality. 23-year old alternate Anne Dos Santos, surfing for Brazil but resident of Sydney's Northern Beaches, was all over the lineup and bagged three rides in a stunning Eddie debut as an alternate. That seemed to unlock the remaining women with Annie Reickert and Bianca Valenti having a great time in Heat 8 and Justine Dupont offering an inspired showing for the last heat of the day to spear four rides.

There's no physiological impediment to women's big wave surfing in the Eddie, the only barrier to growth is scarcity of opportunities. Waimea can't be duplicated and, as Paige Alms said, “why would I leave Maui to come here and surf with fifty guys?”

Injuries and no shows were a crucial feature of the day. Anne Dos Santos got the call after Laura pulled out. No female alternate could be found after Moana Jones-Wong did not show for the bell so Koa Smith got a call. Kelly Slater was a no show without any reason being given for the former Eddie winner's failure to honour the invite. Mark Healey took two brutal wipeouts and had to be assisted to the beach after the second with a busted ear drum. Greg Long pulled out after his first heat.

Mark Healey (inside) goes down as Ian Walsh prepares for takeoff (Josh Bystrom)

It was hard to keep up with who was replacing who - the commentary by this stage was becoming shambolic. Great fun all day as Wassel, Rocky Canon and Kaipo riffed off each other and were clearly having a ball. It was the opposite to the buttoned down fake positivity of the average WSL webcast. The only thing they majorly fucked up on was the inclusion of Grant 'Twiggy' Baker. Three-time Big Wave World Champ, Mavs winner, won everything there is to win in big wave surfing. He graciously allowed at the start that he “wasn't used to sitting on the sidelines” and was hoping for a start. He finally got his start and he freaking charged.

Wassel had the temerity to claim it was the best Twiggy had ever done at Waimea. Jeezuz, go watch the edited clip of him at the 2023 Eddie, or the 2016, or the 2009 version. He's one of the very, very few of the elite big wave riders who will spin and go without hesitation on the thickest and biggest waves of the day. He should never have been on the sidelines with his showing left to chance.

Chance, luck, mana all decide who wins. Camera angles flatten the distances but in the chaos of approaching sets, inches matter. Getting an entry to a bomb can be denied all day despite the best will in the world. Conversely, luck favours the guys who spend the most time on the ledge. Local boys like Jake Maki are comfortable sitting under it and whipping it late, which he did all day, threatening to pull in backside a few times if it opened up.

Pulling into the barrel was a rarity today, with none made. In the post-lunch euphoria of an Hawaiian afternoon, traditionally a time of siesta as lazy cocks crow in backyard coops, the surf started to pump. Australian Ben Wilkinson finally got his call-up to the Eddie. He did not waste it. Charged a bomb, pulled in off the take-off and rode one through to the shorey, which was extra diabolical today as sand had been pulled into the Bay and a steep berm threw an unruly backwash back out to sea to collide with the incoming swell. Some of the resulting collisions were spectacular.

Shorebreak meets backwash (Josh Bystrom)

As the final heats played out it came down to a handful. Billy Kemper had been typically hard-headed in his charging and lead the comp into the straight. Nate Florence was all over it. Both guys had overtaken Luke Shepardson after the lifeguard had a quieter second heat.

Wassel in the booth claimed an unbroken line of big wave evolution and improvement which made me cock an eyebrow. Has there really been a linear progression? Are we any further ahead of Slater pulling in from take-off in 2002? Has there really been an advancement on Ramon Navarro's rocket drop in 2009? Bruce's shorebreak tube in 2004?

Feel free to argue the Wassel position, but to me we are right where we have always been with Waimea Bay: enjoying the thrills and spills of people taking ridiculous drops on giant waves and moreorless going straight, preferably into the shorey for maximum effect. It's good. It works. But lets not pretend there is some sort of new performance ceiling being breached here. The bigger it is the more fun to watch.

That was the best way to enjoy it: as pure spectacle. It was almost impossible to appreciate it as a competitive sporting event as the broadcast and the commentary team lost coordination. The primary camera angle looking into the afternoon sun meant the team had no idea who was on the wave, sometimes even as replays were being shown. Despite the lack of information there was an intuitive feeling that the result would come down to the last heats.

Jamie O'Brien (at left) and Billy Kemper buck-kneed and going straight. Take away the ski, vests, and camera, and its Kimo Hollinger and James Jones circa '76 (Josh Bystrom)

In the second last heat of the day Mason Ho was charging like a hopped up rodeo clown. Both deadly serious as he toyed with disaster and full of Chaplin-esque comic touches. He pirouetted switchfoot, made silly little gestures, but above all rode steep and deep. It was almost enough to win. It would have been if Landon McNamara, 7th in the 2023 Eddie, did not swing on an impossibly late drop where he looked to have poked the nose several times on the drop. After the explosion of the whitewater had subsided the Jesus lookalike emerged Christ-like from his watery tomb arms raised in triumph. It was the days only perfect 50-point ride.

Nate Florence needed something special to overhaul him in the last heat of the day and on the buzzer it looked like he might have got it.

Dropping out of the sky, slowly weaving back and forth through the Bay as tension mounted then a stand up straight sacrificial tube-ride in the shorey. It was a fitting way to finish but judges deemed it after the hooter. Which left Landon McNamara the 2024 winner. Him and his buddies, Luke Shepardson and others, were the “underground” he claimed in an emotional presser to Hawaiian TV. Which is true enough. The days of sponsored big wave riders seem gone now, an artifact of a time gone by like surf magazines. You get a real job like Luke Shephardson or Aaron Gold or a bunch of other Hawaiian chargers and become a family man or you hustle the living shit out of YouTube like Nate or JOB. Still, it seemed a tiny bit much considering Dad was the contest Director.

No matter. The Bay called the Day. Not a day of days like 2023 but still an incredibly entertaining spectacle filled with bravado, skill and aloha. So much has crumbled around it but for now the Eddie remains intact, as solid as ever.

//STEVE SHEARER

Click here to see Josh Bystrom's photos from the day.