Rating All The Eddie Aikau Invitationals

by | Feb 3, 2025 | Blog, Surf Culture

Rating All The Eddie Aikau Invitationals

Like choosing your favorite child or picking just two boards to take to Indo, rating all the Eddie Aikau Invitational events is no easy task. While requiring 25-foot “Hawaiian” sized waves to run, it has been held just 11 times in its 40-year history. However, in the spirit that all Eddies are equal (but some Eddies are more equal than others), we rate the world’s most prestigious big-wave invitationals from 1 to 11.

#11

Winner 1984 : Denton Miyamura

It was a relatively inauspicious start for the famed big-wave invitational.

The event was held at Sunset, with a standard competition format and an 8-foot swell dropped throughout the day. Local surfer Denton Miyamura won the event, which was largely ignored by the surf media and surf fans.

#10

2001 Winner : Ross Clarke-Jones

The 2001 version lost ranking points for the surf, which, while meeting the Eddie standard of 20 feet plus, didn’t go XXL.

On the other hand, it featured the first non-Hawaiian winner in Australian Ross Clarke-Jones, a popular victor who has remained a perennial performer ever since.

#9

1999 Winner : Noah Johnson

After a wait of nine years to run the event, Noah Johnson became the youngest surfer in the event’s history to win the title.

On New Year’s Day of 1999, the local surfer sealed the win in massive 25-foot conditions. Was the wait worth it? Absolutely.

#8

2009 Winner : Greg Long

“It was that intenseness that brought the happiness out of everyone that day,” said Jamie O’Brien after the 2009 Eddie went down.

The morning swells were huge, easily in the 20-foot range, and built throughout the day. “The winner comes about by Eddie deciding, it’s the guy who is living up to his values in the water that day,” said Keone Downing after the event. “Today, that was Greg Long.”

#7

1990 Winner : Keone Downing

This immense wave contest hadn’t run since 1986, and the lack of competition was causing friction among sponsors and fans.

Yet contest director George Downing wouldn’t be swayed from his mantra that “The Bay Calls The Day.” It called it in 1990, with 20-foot surf throughout all heats. Keone Downing was the winner, but it was Brock Little, with a massive wipeout followed by a rare barrel, who etched the event into folklore and up this list.

#6

2016 Winner : John John Florence

Aged 23, John John Florence became the Eddie’s youngest champion.

“I was just stoked to be a part of this event, growing up on the North Shore, watching The Eddies run — and there’s only been a few of them since I’ve been alive — and to experience how big the waves were today,” he said afterward. Those waves were part of what the invitees called “Brock’s Swell,” in honor of long-time Eddie invitee and Hawaii Big Wave rider Brock Little, who had lost his battle with cancer the week before.

#5

2006 Winner : Kelly Slater

Blue skies, light offshore winds, 20-foot-plus surf, and Kelly Slater winning?

You can see why the 2006 version cracks the top five of our Eddie table. Just shy of his 30th birthday and a month after he’d claimed his 6th World Title, the win solidified Kelly’s GOAT status in what he still calls a career highlight… and he’s had a few.

#4

1986 Winner : Clyde Aikau

The masterstroke in 1986 was a move to Waimea Bay and a format change to a one-day-only, huge-or-nothing big-wave throwdown.

The key was having waves more significant than 25 feet. Not only did they score the conditions, but also the emotional icing on the cake when 50-year-old Clyde Aikau, the brother of Eddie, won.

#3

2024 Winner : Landon McNamara

While we need to factor in recency bias, the 2004 Eddie Aikau invitational had conditions that rivaled the historic 2023 rendition for size.

An expanded women’s field added heroics, but the day’s defining moment and most memorable ride belonged to eventual winner Landon McNamara. A late drop earned a perfect score, and the local surfer musician became the first goofy-footer to win the event.

#2

2004 Winner : Bruce Irons

The footage of eventual winner Bruce Irons riding a 25-foot wave from the back ledge to the shore, where he packed a massive closeout to the glorious screams of 1000s of spectators, is iconic.

The wave scored a perfect 100, cemented a dominant display, and despite little experience at the famed big wave spot, Bruce’s name would be forever linked to the event and the wave. Despite the Hawaiian’s heroics, Flea Virostko’s 30-foot freefall pin drop wipeout has become the event’s defining image.

#1

2023 Winner : Luke Shepardson

It’s an inexact science, but many experts believe that the 2023 version saw the biggest waves ever seen for the competition.

It was a big call, but with the swell buoys reading 29 feet and 19 seconds, few had seen a break this massive. The shock winner was Luke Shepardson, who, in the neatest of emotional twists, was a Waimea Bay lifeguard like Eddie Aikau.

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