As far as big wave events go, this weekends Pe'ahi Challenge may never be topped. Never, because the world of big wave surfing has changed. For the rest of time, big wave surfing events shall be compared to the Pe'ahi Challenge. It had everything you could ever want, and more! Huge waves, the absolute best surfers and action packed heats in the worlds most famous big-wave location.

Jaws absolutely turned it on for the event on Sunday, with the green light being turned on early last week, giving surfers a few days to cancel everything, and fly to Maui. Forecasts were in the 60-80ft range (yes, that's six zero feet), with offshore winds predicted to keep wave faces clean and open up some barrels. Dawn on Sunday approached, and with a solid swell building in the days prior, competitors knew it might just happen. When the sun rose over Pe'ahi, it was 60-80ft. Clean faces. Open barrels. Everything the forecast promised, and the surfers were pumped.

So were the crowds, who lined the natural amphitheater to watch the carnage. They were disappointed, with some of the heaviest wipeouts ever caught on camera going down, including one that knocked out only Aussie surfer out of the running. Mark Mathews was out for a pre-heat warm up, and dropped into a massive close-out. Pulled from the water with a fractured and dislocated shoulder, he's out for a while, of course spending the duration of the event in hospital.

One guy who did survive the drop-in, was local surfer Billy Kempur. Scoring a super smooth wave face, he took off and tucked into a short barrel, before being spit out hard on a solid 80 footer in the finals. For that, and a second wave, he took home the first ever Pe'ahi Challenge title.

"This is a dream come true," Told Kemper. "We've been talking about this moment for years and to have a paddle event in my backyard at, to me one of the most premier, outstanding waves in the world, means everything to me. It doesn't feel real and I just want to dedicate this to my brother. To paddle Pe'ahi has been a dream of mine for a very long time and to be out there with some of my favorite surfers and best friend -- I'm just speechless."

It's one that will go down in history, and despite the WSL saying that the El Nino cycle this year will bring the biggest waves ever to the Big Wave Tour, it's going to have to be incredible to beat the 2015 Pe'ahi Challenge.

Watch the highlights reel below, and discuss the wipeouts and lucky saves right here in the Surfing forums.

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