Quiksilver has announced that the Quiksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau will run this Wednesday, all things being equal. “For the first time in 6 years,” wrote the brand on Instagram, “the event has been officially green-lit and has been called ON for this Wednesday, February 10! #EddieWouldGo.”
The world’s most prestigious big wave event, affectionately referred to simply as the Eddie, requires a whole day of at least 20 feet Hawaiian surf (40-foot faces) at Waimea Bay, and was last given the go-ahead in 2009, when it was won by Greg Long. Quik’s decision not to hold the event several Fridays ago, when a sufficiently large swell hit the coast of Oahu sooner than expected, was criticised by many, but even now it’s not a certainty that the Eddie will run in two days’ time. The WSL, in its own announcement of the news, qualified its statement thus: “If the green alert continues it will be the ninth time it has run in its three-decade history.” The call is liable to be reversed, in other words.
“At this point it appears that the swell will peak during the overnight hours from Wednesday,” said Surfline lead forecaster, Kevin Wallis, “with the largest waves during daylight hours showing late Wednesday and early Thursday. Model guidance puts this in the same ballpark as the swell from this past Friday.”
The Invitees:
Aaron Gold, Albee Layer, Bruce Irons, Clyde Aikau, Dave Wassel, Garrett McNamara, Grant Baker, Greg Long, Ian Walsh, Jamie Mitchell, Jamie O’Brien, Jeremy Flores, John John Florence, Kala Alexander, Kelly Slater, Kohl Christensen, Makua Rothman, Mark Healey, Nathan Fletcher, Noah Johnson, Peter Mel, Ramon Navarro, Reef McIntosh, Ross Clarke-Jones, Shane Dorian, Sunny Garcia and Takayuki Wakita
The Alternates (in order):
Mason Ho (Aikau Pick), Danilo Couto, Mark Matthews, Koa Rothman, Ben Wilkinson, Jamie Sterling, Billy Kemper, Shawn Dollar, Carlos Burle, Kealii Mamala, Gabriel Villaran, Michael Ho, Kai Lenny, Kahea Hart, Nathan Florence, Damien Hobgood, Kalani Chapman, Ryan Hipwood, Danny Fuller, Nic Lamb, Anthony Tashnick, Rusty Long, Derek Dunfee and Brock Little.
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