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Unfortunately, I wasn’t at the legendary shores of Waimea yesterday; Instead, I was a part of the 90,000 strong audience live streaming the 20-30 foot walls of water marching through the Bay into offices and lounge rooms around the globe. The Eddie has universal appeal, from corporate procrastinators to tradies on smoko, trolls, and even pros such as Nathan Florence and Tom Carroll who joined the fun and bantered in the stream’s chat section. There was plenty of online sledging between this diverse group of surf junkies while they watched the most respected big-wave warriors in the world go into battle.

Here are five key moments from the 10th Eddie Aikau Big-Wave Invitational.

1. The Champ

Luke Shepardson started the day unknown to the masses and ended the day as the focal discussion point in Hawaiian family dinners. The underground big-wave surfer was on duty as a North Shore lifeguard yesterday. Luke’s boss graciously allowed him to have two hours off work to surf each of his heats. That was all he needed to etch himself in the surfing history books. You couldn’t have embodied Eddie’s spirit better than Luke did yesterday; the 27-year-old was crowned champ with his lifeguard gear on.

It’s up there as one of the best performances at an Eddie, two perfects ’30s, and an overall 89.8/90 heat total. This near-perfect performance was the only way you were going to beat the previous champ, John-John.

2. The relentless bunch: John John, Mark Healey, Billy Kemper, and Kai Lenny.

All these surfers were rigorously prepared and showed their hunger to win with their heroics yesterday. It just wasn’t meant to be their day. Their shared relentlessness to find themselves on the most enormous sets of the day was not enough for what just seemed to be Luke’s destiny. 

Zeke Lau surfed in his first Eddie and was rewarded wave of the day for this mighty ride.

A memorable day at the bay 1/22/23 #eddiewouldgo #waveoftheday @zekelau pic.twitter.com/ID2fqO0Eui

— Leonard Lau (@lauz8590) January 23, 2023

3. YTG (Yeah the Girls)

It was a monumental event for the women who competed for the first time in the prestigious contest. Big respect goes out to the six female competitors Justine Dupont, Keala Kennelly, Emily Erickson, Makani Adric, Andrea Molle, and Paige Alms. These women broke barriers in the sport yesterday and established themselves as pioneers in big-wave surfing.

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4.  The OG’S:  

Let’s cut the BS and just give the Australian of the Year to Ross Clarke Jones for his effort yesterday. The 56-year-old made the Aussies proud, taking off on possibly the most giant wall of water in round one. But his resilience to keep paddling after he copped a 30-foot plus clean-up set was just as impressive. I’m sure the ‘Born Maniac’ (his new brand) will be feeling sore today. 

The most respected OG in surfing right now has got to be Michael Ho. The 65-year-old once again showed why he’s a living legend and may have the best lungs for someone his age. Mike didn’t look out of place, taking off on a few 20–30-footers and was not hindered when he fell victim to the Waimea whitewash. What a winter season it has been for the surf icon with his performance at the Da Hui Backdoor Shootout and now at Waimea. Mike’s daughter Coco claimed this year’s Eddie was his final dance in the big-wave event. What a performance to bow out with.

Below is a pic of RCJ and Mike Ho sharing a party wave for old times sake.

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Big shout-out goes to 53-year-old Peter Mel, who was one of the standouts in round one. The Mavericks legend showcased why he’s in the conversation as one of the best to ever do it when it comes to big-wave paddle surfing.

5. Wipeouts

Wipe-outs are a guilty pleasure for fans when the Waimea event comes around, and carnage is expected. The countless falls were a highlight reel of pain. A montage of wipeouts would be an ideal addition in the next Jackass movie. It was hard to pick the worst one, as almost every surfer got smoked at some point. However, Keala Kenelly’s 20-foot free fall was stomach-churning. It would have been a horrendous beating, but she displayed an impenetrable mindset and paddled back immediately, looking for more.

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Mark Healey put on a backhand clinic at the Bay. But even the most revered big-wave surfer was victim to arguably the worst beating of the day. 

Mason Ho, Twiggy and Billy Kemper were catapulted into the Bay when some of the days biggest bomb sets rolled through. Check out Mase’s head knock at his attempt to ride a giant Waimea wall with Lucas Chumbo.

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Kelly?

It wasn’t a moment, but this was the question on everyone’s mind yesterday. It was the first time the 50-year-old had given up his spot in the big-wave event. Kelly said “he wasn’t feeling it” in an interview with a Hawaiian TV network and expressed that he wasn’t comfortable with the swell. Kelly’s got a Pipe Masters to defend at the end of the month, and we assume he doesn’t want to risk injury for that. It’s probably the most intelligent thing to do. I’m sure we’ll hear a stacked injury list from the competitors in due time. Slater gave his spot to long-time Waimea charger, Chris Owens.

Apologies if I missed some worthy mentions due to the action overload.

10th Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational Results

• 1st – Luke Shepardson
• 2nd – John John Florence
• 3rd – Mark Healey
• 4th – Billy Kemper
• 5th – Kai Lenny
• 6th – Zeke Lau
• 7th – Landon McNamara
• 8th – Keali’i Mamala