Well, so much for La Nina being a punchless, dinky surf phenomenon eh?  After a mostly forgettable 2010 winter surf season on the North Shore, La Nina suddenly changed faces after new years.  The dismal pattern of small, windy, northerly surf of November and December did a complete 180 in January and a pulsing convoy of warning-level west/northwest swells began radiating solid long period energy towards us.

On or around January 14th, surf forecasters began tracking a developing and eventually massive low pressure system that began spiraling off of southern Japan.  The system was a huge single storm cell sitting nearly stationary, with hurricane force winds raking across an expansive region of the northwestern Pacific Ocean over a long duration period, pushing open ocean swell southeastward.  These ingredients are the classic recipe for gigantic surf in Hawaii, and as surfers and surfing fans around the world know, it’s the symbolic lighting of the fuse for a possible running of The Quiksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational, aka “The Eddie”.

To my untrained eyes, the system appeared to be even bigger on the NOAA wave models than the one that allowed the 2009 Eddie to go, occupying an immense area of the north Pacific Ocean estimated at over 18,000 square miles. The difference between the 2009 and 2011 events was that the latter was sending energy from a much more westerly direction, and the bathymetry that makes up the Waimea Bay swell window is not set up to easily capture swell from such a dominant westerly origin.  Even if it did, it might do so with markedly reduced wave size and consistency.  There was no way to predict what we’d get until the peak of the swell.

But the sheer size of the swell had enough potential to get everyone pumped up for the second running of The Eddie in as many years, a potential first in the contest’s 26 year history.  Quiksilver mobilized their massive Waimea event show; organizing permits, licensing, construction and security crews, contest staffing, parking, media and public relations, live satellite, webcast, and television transmissions, food vendors, contestants, judges, medical staff, water patrol, and last but not least, the competing surfers. 

The energy and excitement was off the charts the week of January 17th, as the world held its collective breath, and Eddie officials pining over every spec of data from NOAA readings, surface charts, swell models, NWS forecast trends, and all other manner of scientific data.  Then, on the morning of Thursday, January 20th, everything and everyone was in place at Waimea Bay. Well, …. all except for the waves.  And although the “Just GO” battle cry echoed across the globe, the surf only tickled the lower rungs of the 20’ (Hawaiian-scale) minimum criteria.  Yes, there were a few solid 20 footers that came through early in the morning, whipping the frothing beach mob of 15,000 crazed surf fans into a mad frenzy, and further intensifying the demand for a start to the contest.  One towering cleanup set just after 8am even cleared the so-called “No Takers” boundary, where a set of waves is so big and gnarly, that no one wants to take them.  It was 20’ easily, with terrified surfers caught inside and bailing their surfboards to get under the beasts.  After that, it went pretty quiet.

Eddie co-Contest Directors George Downing (hailed by many as the first true big wave rider) and Glen Moncata (of Quiksilver Hawaii) stood firm and unified in compliance with the established criteria, resisting the urge to allow spectators to influence them into an impulsive, emotion-based decision and they calmly waited, watched, and timed the intervals between 20’ sets up to 830am.  They’d been doing so since the wee hours of the morning.  Ultimately, Uncle George and Glen made the right call; NO GO.  The surf simply didn’t measure up to the stringent, dare I say sacred, requirements for the contest, and aside from millions of moans of disappointment from the viewing audience, there were only a few souls directly involved with the contest who didn’t agree with the verdict.

"What we see in conditions like this is just one or two true 'Eddie-size’ waves in the period of a heat," said Downing. "With seven surfers in the water per heat, that is not the kind of playing field we need for fair, quality competition.  It's very easy to get caught up in the excitement when those huge waves come through and after all of the efforts of the crew and the spectators to be ready for this day. But what keeps this event the greatest big wave event in the world is never relaxing those standards. Eddie never did.”   Moncata added that after the 8am set, most of the waves tapered down to the 12’-18’ range, much too small by the golden Eddie standard.  If it had gone, the winner’s name might be asterisked as the guy who won the smallest Eddie … and who’d want that distinction?  Certainly not any of the amazing athletes that surf in it.  What the non-surfing lay person may not fully understand is that the difference between an 18’ wave and a 20’ one (Hawaiian scale) at Waimea is significant in terms of the wave’s volume, speed, and pitch.  Between 20’ and 25’, the difference is huge.  Between 25’ and 30’? … barely explainable.

To truly honor Edward Ryan Aikau’s legacy of elite watermanship, bravery, ocean acumen, and the critical integrity of a memorial event like this, it would have been irresponsible to cave in to public demand and run it in “small” surf.  Although Oceanic had quite a bit invested in this one, I for one, completely agreed with the cancellation, even though the 24 hours prior to the event was chaotic as the our crew scrambled to set up for the live broadcast.  I was up till 4am on the 20th watching the 51001 buoy readings, making calls, checking emails and voicemails, monitoring the news and websites. I power napped for an hour and a half, then flew into the office and was back at again until 830am when the no-go call was made.  So I was mentally prepared for that call, even though I wound up on the receiving end of a few pretty dirty looks from a frazzled transmissions crew (sorry boys, LOL!).

The Eddie has till February 28th to run, so it may have happened, or a new equally big swell may be targeted by the time you read this, and that would be awesome.  If not, I’m quite happy to wait and everyone who respects The Eddie and what it represents should be too.

• THE 2010 HURLEY PRO AND US OPEN REPLAYING ON OCEANIC SURF CHANNEL THIS MONTH!
   
  By popular demand, the epic 2010 Hurley Pro will be replayed on Oceanic SURF Channel 250 & 1250 this month!  See Jordy Smith, Mick Fanning, Dane Reynolds, and other top pros put on electrifying performances in glassy 4’-6’ perfection at Lower Trestles.  The amazing Kelly Slater takes the win and a whopping $105,000 cash prize.  Also featured this month are highlight shows of the 2010 US Open of Surfing from Huntington Beach, with HB local Brett Simpson beating out a field of 128 hot surfers to win the event. Tune in and don’t miss a single amazing ride!