“The contest has really stepped up on the criteria, ever since Greg Long won it in 2009, and we want it to be 20-25 feet which is like between 40 foot and 50 foot waves faces and we always want the Eddie to be a memorable day, a day you look back and go ‘Wow it was huge that day,’” Owens said. He said Saturday’s surf models weren’t showing the right seas versus period for them to “confidently call on the contest.” “Surprisingly a few 20-footers came through and it almost worried me because I’m one of the Eddie forecasters and I was kind of thinking while I was out there like ‘Did we blow it by not calling on the contest? Because this is a legitimate set,” said surfer Chris Owens. One of the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational surfers and forecasters for the event was out at Waimea Saturday morning. Let us turn Hawaii’s local KHON news for more. In any case, the last time the even ran was in 1911 when Duke Kahanamoku outlasted Bryan Adams for bragging rights and a brand new But also perfect for the Eddie Aikau Invitational brought to you by…. Oahu’s North Shore, home to Turtle Bay, Pupukea Grill, Off da Wall and Waimea Bay which is, in turn, home to the Eddie Aikau Invitational brought to you by… I don’t think Quiksilver anymore… has been experiencing a run of climate change induced swell so grand, so large, that 50 people were in need of rescue there just yesterday.ĥ0 whole people and pandemonium. 19 on the website.Of course you have been paying attention and of course you know. Visit for more information, including an entry form. Submissions must be postmarked - or time-stamped if sent by email - by Saturday. Awards range from $500 for first place to $100 for honorable mention. “We felt it was a great way to get the kids to talk a little about everything that’s happening in their lives here,” Ipsen said.Įssays should be about 1,000 words, or about two pages double-spaced. The essay should also reflect how the student has demonstrated those qualities in his or her own life. Students are asked to respond to a prompt about Aikau, which this year refers to his empathy and compassion (aloha and menemene) toward strangers and people from other cultures. “Our Hawaiian-language judges, who come from the Hawaiian Studies Department at UH, they always tell us they’re always amazed at the quality of the Hawaiian language essays we receive,” Ipsen said. Essays can be written in Hawaiian as well as English.

The essay contest, held since 2006, usually attracts more than 300 entries from students grades 7-10. “We decided to move forward with (the essay contest) year, despite everything, because it’s a positive thing,” said Linda Ipsen, Aikau’s former wife and now secretary for the Aikau Foundation. Meanwhile, the surfing competition, the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational, has been canceled due to COVID-19. The original deadline for essay submissions has expired, but now the Eddie Aikau Foundation has extended its deadine and will accept submissions until Saturday.

That’s the Eddie Aikau Essay Contest, the student writing competition held in conjunction with the surf contest honoring the heroic surfer and lifeguard.

Eddie aikau 2020