In 1946 when Edward Ryon Makuahanai Aikau (Eddie Aikau) was born, no one knew that it would be the beginning of a Hawaiian surfing legend that would leave a lasting legacy.

Aikau was born into the Kamehameha and Hewahewa families, two of the most powerful and influencial families in Hawai’ian history.

He dropped out of high school and worked enough in the pineapple factory to be able to afford his first surfboard. From there he fell in love with the ocean and spent every day of his life working to protect our oceans and the people in them.

In 1968, he became the first lifeguard hired by the city of Honolulu to protect the North Shore. No one before Aikau possessed the ability to face the up to 30 foot waves and return safely. He was the first ever lifeguard in Waimea Bay – more commonly known as Jaws – and not a single life was lost while he was working.

In 1978, a voyage covering 2,500 miles and 30 days left Hawaiian to reach the Tahitian island chain aboard the Hokule’a, the same trip his ancestors had taken so many centuries before. The ship developed a leak a few hours later and capsized, but Aikau took the surfboard and paddled toward Lana’i to find help for the rest of the crew. Hours later the rest of the crew was rescued by a nearby Coast Guard vessel, but Aikau was never seen or heard from again. This coined the saying “Eddie Would Go”.

The Coast Guard, National Guard, friends, family and practically the whole state of Hawai’i searched for Aikau for almost a week before his father called off the search.

In the honor of Aikau, since 1985, Quicksilver has been hosting an annual surfing competition at Waimea Bay, calling it the Quicksilver Big Wave Invitational in Memory of Eddie Aikau.

The competition can only occur if there are constant swells of at least 30 feet in the bay, during the three months starting in February.

The competition set to occur in 2018, has recently been cancelled due to a number of events, the most recent being Quicksilver pulling its sponsorship from the event. The Aikau family felt that the competition had lost the spirit of Eddie, so they introduced new terms to the company that they would not accept.

The Aikau family struggled for months to pull the competition together and find other sponsors, but after John John Florence – the current World Champion – pulled out of the tournament, The Eddie was cancelled altogether.

In the more than 30 years since The Eddie began, this will be the first year that the competition will not run because of something other than weather circumstances.

The Aikau family did not provide any other details, but states that they are sad that the spirit of The Eddie will be lost because of funding, and they miss the days of surfing for fun.