Eddie would’ve definitely gone. And so would these guys. Photo: Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational
The invitations have been sent and the list of (potential) competitors for the 2025-2026 Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational has been announced. The list of 32 invited surfers and 28 alternates were shared by the contest organizers on Wednesday, as well as this season’s competition window, which will begin on December 5, 2025, and run through March 6, 2026.
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As is tradition, the Eddie will only run if conditions at Waimea Bay meet the contest’s specific requirements: a day in which waves at the Bay reach and sustain heights of at least 20 feet Hawaiian. Thanks to this strict standard, the contest has only been held 11 times now in its 41-year history.
North Shore lifeguard Luke Shepardson literally came off the beach to compete and went on to win the event on January 22, 2023, capping one of the greatest Cinderella Stories in the sport’s history — a relatively unknown in the professional realm but a widely respected waterman stepping into big wave surfing history.
“There are huge shoes to fill and I don’t think I’ll ever fully do it, but I’m going to try my best to be as he was to people. To be a great lifeguard, and enjoy big waves and love charging big waves,” Shepardson said after his historic win.
On December 22, 2024, fellow Hawaiian Landon McNamara won the event after riding what almost everybody called the wave of the day, a 50-point ride that looked like a potential closeout when McNamara took off, but turned into the steepest, biggest wave of the heat by a notable margin.
Those two events marked just the third time the Eddie has run in back-to-back calendar years. A third Eddie in a row in 2025 would be historic. And while it’s never happened before, the Eddie’s also never run without Clyde Aikau leading the charge.
Clyde, the younger brother of Eddie, passed away earlier this year. For 40 years, he ensured Eddie’s legacy lived on through the big wave event and his loss leaves a gaping hole in the community.
“Clyde followed through with his lifetime commitment to perpetuate Eddie’s legacy and contributions to big wave riding and Hawaiian culture,” the Aikau family wrote after his passing. “In 1986, Clyde won the inaugural Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational at Waimea Bay, in tribute to his brother. He continued to surf in the event every year it was held up to the age of 66 (2016), forging an unrivaled big wave legacy all his own.”
So, if the Eddie does run this year, there’s no doubt the surf world will be giving Uncle Clyde all the credit for looking over its competitors and continuing a rich, meaningful legacy.
