Darnley Island Barge, QLD
Mundabullangana, WA, 6721
Mount Byron, QLD, 4312
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Darnley Island Barge, QLD
Mundabullangana, WA, 6721
Mount Byron, QLD, 4312
  Search for a Location
  Clear Recents
Metro
South West
Central West
North West
Surf Cameras
Safety Bay Camera
Metro
North
Mid North
Illawarra
South Coast
Metro
West Coast
East Coast
Brisbane
Far North
Central Coast
Sunshine Coast
Gold Coast
Hobart
West Coast
North Coast
East Coast
Recent
Western Australia
New South Wales
Victoria
South Australia
Queensland
Northern Territory
Tasmania
  My Favourites
  Reverse Arrows
All
Windsurfing
Kitesurfing
Surfing
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A day of Heroics, a day of Brutality - Eddy Aikau Wipeouts.

"Eddy Aikau is looking down on Waimea Bay this week, and smiling to himself."
After several false starts, and lots of training sessions at Pipeline and Waimea Bay, this week the green light was turned on for the 'In Memory of Eddie Aikau' Event on the North shore of Oahu. Waimea turned it on, it turned everything, and some extra on for the comp, and the worlds best surfers did not disappoint.

Slater, Florence, Mitchel, those are just three of the guys who paddled out there on a day that shall go down in history as one of the most insane competition days ever. Waves as high as four story buildings rolling into Waimea Bay, and only rule was that surfers had to paddle in. Jet ski's were on hand for rescues, but no tow-ins.

That means late takeoffs, big drops and our favourite, long freefalls from lips higher than the ledges some base jumpers leap off. There were crashes, jet ski's running for their lives, and a beach full of spectators cheering their hearts out as these surfers put everything on the line for one of the most prestigious titles in the WSL.

So who was it all for? One guy, Eddit Aikau, walked onto Waimea Bay beach in the 1970s as their very first lifeguard. He saved over 500 people, and not one person was lost on Waimea Beach during his time in service. He was famous for heading out in unbelievable swell, well in excess of 10m high to perform a rescue, spawning the popular saying 'Eddie Would go'.

That phrase has spread all over the world through surfing culture, thrown out when anybody is considering staying on the beach due to the conditions. At 31 years of age, Eddy volunteers to crew on a 4000km paddle from Hawaii to Tahiti. Off the island of Molokai, their canoe developed a leak and Eddie took it upon himself to grab his surfboard and start paddling the 19km to get help. He was never seen again, and the only trace anybody found was his life jacket, cast away moments after leaving the boat because it hindered his paddling.

In memory of Eddy, 28 big wave surfers paddled out in Waimea Bay this week, and put on the most spectacular display of big wave surfing that we'll see in a very long time. Check out the highlights reel below.