BREAKING: The Eddie Is A No Go

It's been seven years since the last, but the event has been called on for this Wednesday

Craig's picture
By Craig Brokensha (Craig)
Photo: WSL: Keoki

BREAKING: The Eddie Is A No Go

Craig Brokensha picture
Craig Brokensha (Craig)
Swellnet Dispatch

Update: Organisers have called off the Eddie due to the local poor winds on Wednesday

With the North Pacific roaring to life as La Niña starts to loosen its grip, we've got two significant storms lining up for the Hawaiian Islands this week.

The first is strong and large enough for the event organisers of the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational to call it on off for this Wednesday Hawaiian time (Thursday Australian time). The last time the Eddie was run was in 2016 with John John Florence taking out the event. Looking at a recent warm up session in maxing Waimea Bay, he'll be hard to beat.

The storm that's caught the event organisers attention is another 'bombing' low that's developed to the north-west of the islands. This is the second within a week firing up in the North Pacific, with the first delivering one of the biggest swells in decades to the Californian coast.

This current low has dropped well over the threshold of 24hPa within a 24hr period to classify it as a 'bombing' system, with explosive cyclogenisis resulting in the formation of a broad swathe of storm-force (50-60kt) winds aimed towards the Hawaiian Islands.

The storm-force fetch will be maintained for over 24hrs resulting in an extra-large, long-period NW groundswell that will arrive in the early hours of Wednesday morning (Hawaiian time) and build rapidly with step-ladder sets due to reach 25ft+ through the day.

The only issue are the local conditions, with strong N/NE tending NE due to create choppy, tricky take-offs (great for viewers – scary for competitors), though with the size and consistency of the swell there should be plenty of cleaner ones to pick off after the first wave of the set.

The low will continue east, generating an extra-large groundswell for northern California later in the week along with a period of light local winds. Keep an eye out for that footage of that swell from the weekend.

Regardless keep Thursday morning free to witness all the carnage from the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational.

 

 

Comments

channel-bottom's picture
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channel-bottom Tuesday, 10 Jan 2023 at 12:23pm

The last one was an epic day, not much was accomplished at work.

batfink's picture
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batfink Tuesday, 10 Jan 2023 at 4:46pm

The last two were the most exciting days I’ve had at work. :-)

thermalben's picture
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thermalben Tuesday, 10 Jan 2023 at 12:24pm

"there should be plenty of cleaner ones to pick off after the first wave of the set"

Same theory I use at 2-3ft Cabarita.

Oink's picture
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Oink Tuesday, 10 Jan 2023 at 12:25pm

thanks mate. what time?

Craig's picture
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Craig Tuesday, 10 Jan 2023 at 12:26pm

5am Thursday morning in Australia will be 8am Wednesday morning in Hawaii.

Rubicon's picture
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Rubicon Tuesday, 10 Jan 2023 at 12:52pm

"5am in Australia"....Gees, you jingoistic East Coasters...

Craig's picture
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Craig Tuesday, 10 Jan 2023 at 12:54pm

Ha, sorry, AEDST.

Rubicon's picture
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Rubicon Tuesday, 10 Jan 2023 at 1:19pm

I appreciate the correction Craig, but too late, borders go up and anyone one with an East Coast accent ejected as soon as Autumn arrives.

eat-your-vegies's picture
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eat-your-vegies Tuesday, 10 Jan 2023 at 6:06pm

Ha ha rubicon

But wats new
WA locked their borders all last year ha ha

Rubicon's picture
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Rubicon Tuesday, 10 Jan 2023 at 6:34pm

Yes, but we missed the crucial step of clearing the lineups before locking the gates.

Rubicon's picture
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Rubicon Tuesday, 10 Jan 2023 at 6:35pm

Sorry, I meant "repatriating our beloved siblings from the East"

Jof's picture
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Jof Tuesday, 10 Jan 2023 at 1:05pm

What else is there?

Island Bay's picture
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Island Bay Tuesday, 10 Jan 2023 at 12:49pm

I have the day off. Nice.

Supafreak's picture
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Supafreak Tuesday, 10 Jan 2023 at 1:25pm

https://www.theeddieaikau.com/ only 2 Aussies in the mens I think , not sure about the women

dawnperiscope's picture
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dawnperiscope Tuesday, 10 Jan 2023 at 1:41pm

Sounds psycho!
How's the synoptic chart on Wednesday night after the next low forms?!
2 lows, both as big as Australia covering the north pacific.

udo's picture
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udo Tuesday, 10 Jan 2023 at 1:42pm
Kham's picture
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Kham Tuesday, 10 Jan 2023 at 1:45pm

Frothing. JJF recent form could be hard to beat, I can't imagine how hard he will charge in The Eddie

Jono's picture
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Jono Tuesday, 10 Jan 2023 at 2:26pm

Yes, however I also think Twiggy will be VERY keen to get the Eddie win

monkeyboy's picture
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monkeyboy Tuesday, 10 Jan 2023 at 2:11pm

Best news all year !!!!

udo's picture
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udo Tuesday, 10 Jan 2023 at 2:33pm

Watch it Build
https://explore.org/livecams/hawaii/hawaii-waimea-bay-cam
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rubicon's picture
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Rubicon Tuesday, 10 Jan 2023 at 2:41pm

Great news that von Rupp is in! For any who miss the live stream there should be some quality and completely impartial coverage of the event on his socials

bluediamond's picture
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bluediamond Tuesday, 10 Jan 2023 at 3:32pm

Woohoo!! This is epic. I'll do a day of work tomorrow to clear me up for Thursday. Cheers for the headsup SN. Looks like it's gonna be a memorable one going by the forecast.

Solitude's picture
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Solitude Tuesday, 10 Jan 2023 at 3:38pm

Russ Bierke would've been good to see

Craig's picture
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Craig Tuesday, 10 Jan 2023 at 3:40pm

Yeah, I wonder why no invite?

Island Bay's picture
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Island Bay Tuesday, 10 Jan 2023 at 4:13pm

Who's the second Aussie? Jamie Mitchell and?

Supafreak's picture
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Supafreak Tuesday, 10 Jan 2023 at 4:14pm

Ross pack cones

campbell's picture
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campbell Wednesday, 11 Jan 2023 at 12:16am

RCJ and Ben Wilkinson is an Aussie too , underground Hellman

adam12's picture
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adam12 Tuesday, 10 Jan 2023 at 4:19pm

Stoked to see Mike Ho on the list, flying the flag for the over-60's. Inspiring stuff. Hope he gets some bombs.

kaiser's picture
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kaiser Tuesday, 10 Jan 2023 at 4:42pm

Albee Layer still not forgiven for brushing the last one. Also dissed pipe for non-invite. Would’ve been good to see what he can do with Waimea but seems he’s on the outer

Craig's picture
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Craig Tuesday, 10 Jan 2023 at 4:44pm

Dropped by Dakine as well..

Island Bay's picture
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Island Bay Tuesday, 10 Jan 2023 at 5:08pm

One of the most well rounded and exciting surfers around. Too honest and outspoken?

Craig's picture
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Craig Tuesday, 10 Jan 2023 at 5:16pm

Not sure eh, a weird one.

teaqueue's picture
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teaqueue Wednesday, 11 Jan 2023 at 1:17pm

He doesn't do the north shore I dont think.

simba's picture
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simba Tuesday, 10 Jan 2023 at 5:29pm

any women invites?

Rubicon's picture
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Rubicon Tuesday, 10 Jan 2023 at 6:43pm

15% female representation, 5.5 Hawaiians, 0.5 Brazilians and a French woman

velocityjohnno's picture
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velocityjohnno Wednesday, 11 Jan 2023 at 2:25pm

Intriguing. So one competitor is half Hawaiian, half Brazilian? That has to be a certain blonde haired ripper?

Rubicon's picture
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Rubicon Thursday, 12 Jan 2023 at 1:00pm

Moller less correct in that assumption VJ

Roadkill's picture
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Roadkill Tuesday, 10 Jan 2023 at 6:40pm

Ooohh Thursday day off work stencilled in. Could be epic..JJ performing will be amazing to watch.

goofyfoot's picture
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goofyfoot Tuesday, 10 Jan 2023 at 7:25pm

You guys streaming it?

bbbird's picture
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bbbird Tuesday, 10 Jan 2023 at 9:17pm

Geez ...30ft closeouts... Slater says too big atm...
Eddy the local lifeguard may have said ...not good enough?

dpc's picture
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dpc Tuesday, 10 Jan 2023 at 9:42pm

that was jan 2016 : ]

mick-free's picture
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mick-free Tuesday, 10 Jan 2023 at 10:16pm

what's the period forecast to be...anything over 18 secs is a problem

Island Bay's picture
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Island Bay Wednesday, 11 Jan 2023 at 4:43am

EC says 16 sec. GFS 17 sec.

MartinNow's picture
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MartinNow Wednesday, 11 Jan 2023 at 6:01am

I understand that Clyde Aikau was 66 when he competed in the last Eddie!

Inspirational.

goofyfoot's picture
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goofyfoot Wednesday, 11 Jan 2023 at 6:05am

It’s off apparently

Craig's picture
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Craig Wednesday, 11 Jan 2023 at 6:09am

What ya mean?

Craig's picture
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Craig Wednesday, 11 Jan 2023 at 6:14am

Yep, cancelled.

What a cock up, winds were always average as mentioned in the article.

mpeachy's picture
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mpeachy Wednesday, 11 Jan 2023 at 1:54pm

Yep you called it, bizarre that the reason for canning it already existed when they called it on

Craig's picture
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Craig Wednesday, 11 Jan 2023 at 6:16am

Feel for those who've booked flights for the contest, they'd be wanting compensation.

udo's picture
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udo Wednesday, 11 Jan 2023 at 7:41am
Craig's picture
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Craig Wednesday, 11 Jan 2023 at 7:42am

Wow, there ya go, literally in the air when called off.

sean killen's picture
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sean killen Wednesday, 11 Jan 2023 at 6:17am

Hopefully nick von flog nuts gets an interview.. love his insight to his surfing..!!!! jjf Kelly worth watching for sure

udo's picture
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udo Wednesday, 11 Jan 2023 at 6:26am

Albee from a few yrs ago....And his latest insta post.....a little Dig at the Eddie ?

Supafreak's picture
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Supafreak Wednesday, 11 Jan 2023 at 6:50am
Robwilliams's picture
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Robwilliams Wednesday, 11 Jan 2023 at 9:29am

Mental, Guy absolutely charges. Why wouldn't you want a rider like that on your team. Can surfers no longer express themselves freely, poke fun at themselves or are the top dogs afraid of loosing control. Are they Just a product, a business model? Or have they got something we could be learning from regardless if we agree with it. Brand control is not surfing, but product placement, Tell it like it is. Go Jamie and go Albee layer and any one who pushes over the edge be it free surfing or competition. The Eddie is iconic and revered no matter what. Wether it runs this year or next.I hope they find some bombs regardless. They are on another level.

Island Bay's picture
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Island Bay Wednesday, 11 Jan 2023 at 6:51am

Albee's a good man.

freeride76's picture
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freeride76 Wednesday, 11 Jan 2023 at 7:51am

It's almost like they panicked when that edit of JJF at Waimea was dropped.

That day looked Eddie sized to me.

He was taking off way behind the boil.

Lanky Dean's picture
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Lanky Dean Thursday, 12 Jan 2023 at 3:36pm

Read somewhere the footage from the edit is from last season.

Solitude's picture
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Solitude Wednesday, 11 Jan 2023 at 8:01am

Do they get too picky each year?

Standingleft's picture
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Standingleft Wednesday, 11 Jan 2023 at 8:36am

Big wave surfing has hairs on it.
All this to take a terrifying drop under the most brutal lip then race for the channel.
I'd be glued to it if they can run. Any chance on the follow up storm?

Craig's picture
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Craig Wednesday, 11 Jan 2023 at 9:17am

Meanwhile at Backdoor this morning.

Standingleft's picture
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Standingleft Wednesday, 11 Jan 2023 at 10:49am

How does he do that I don't know, most other Surfers would be eating lava rock. Can't let Rissa show him up I guess

udo's picture
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udo Wednesday, 11 Jan 2023 at 9:24am

just after 6am i saw that on Explore cam...wild!
Pretty sure it was that Wave

Craig's picture
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Craig Wednesday, 11 Jan 2023 at 9:20am

Ha!

bluediamond's picture
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bluediamond Wednesday, 11 Jan 2023 at 9:30am

Bugger! So a green light isn't really a green light then?

monkeyboy's picture
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monkeyboy Wednesday, 11 Jan 2023 at 11:41am

Will settle for watching the surfcam all day then

Island Bay's picture
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Island Bay Wednesday, 11 Jan 2023 at 12:11pm

Baffled that the Backdoor Shootout isn't running. It's still absolutely pumping.

Lanky Dean's picture
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Lanky Dean Thursday, 12 Jan 2023 at 3:32pm

Probably waiting for the sand to move off the ree.g..
They can only run one contest per day in/ on Oahu.
Maybe they pulled the permit for the Eddie ?
They only run the shootout if they get prime conditions.

Sheepdog's picture
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Sheepdog Wednesday, 11 Jan 2023 at 2:39pm

Step ladder sets? Ya'll laughed when I used this term back in 2016.
"I'll stick with my "step ladder" sets call for tomorrow.."- forecast notes- feb 2016.
Caused a big stir over the proceeding weeks - "wtf are step ladder sets?".
Well now its part of the swellnet vernacular.
#sheepdog4pm

thermalben's picture
thermalben's picture
thermalben Thursday, 12 Jan 2023 at 6:34am

You actually referenced the term earlier than that.. Dec 2014. A little over eight years ago!

https://www.swellnet.com/comment/366586#comment-366586

Craig's picture
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Craig Thursday, 12 Jan 2023 at 6:41am

Can anyone find any earlier posts! Haha Udo?

billie's picture
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billie Thursday, 12 Jan 2023 at 9:46pm

I'm so glad this term exists. I'm going to borrow that one if it's ok

udo's picture
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udo Wednesday, 11 Jan 2023 at 3:00pm

Always enjoyed your input into Forecasts Sheepy
Keep your eye on that bit of Minge way out East on Thursday etc

gomatix's picture
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gomatix Wednesday, 11 Jan 2023 at 10:48pm

I notice Bruce Irons is not on the list, any insight as to why that may be?

goofyfoot's picture
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goofyfoot Thursday, 12 Jan 2023 at 6:23am

He’s dropped off the scene big time hasnt he. Wonder if he is surfing anymore?

Island Bay's picture
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Island Bay Thursday, 12 Jan 2023 at 5:36am

Big and booming, and winds are good. Has that morning-of-a-new-swell look, though.

Craig's picture
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Craig Thursday, 12 Jan 2023 at 6:32am

All the big names are still giving it a crack, should be some good footage to come.

Island Bay's picture
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Island Bay Thursday, 12 Jan 2023 at 6:43am

Looks like the NE wind just hit.

ryder's picture
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ryder Thursday, 12 Jan 2023 at 8:06am

Where is Mark Visser? Still prepping for jumping out of planes?

udo's picture
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udo Thursday, 12 Jan 2023 at 8:16am

Nightshift -Solo Nightsurfing

Sprout's picture
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Sprout Thursday, 12 Jan 2023 at 10:05am

LIVE

Island Bay's picture
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Island Bay Thursday, 12 Jan 2023 at 10:24am

Fun to watch, but makes you wonder why it didn't run the day of the recent JJF/Jack Robbo clip. That day was huge; today looks tame in comparison.

Andrew P's picture
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Andrew P Thursday, 12 Jan 2023 at 5:31pm

I think someone did some digging and that clip was from last season IB

Island Bay's picture
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Island Bay Thursday, 12 Jan 2023 at 6:02pm

Yep, I got that, but the Eddie hasn't run since 2016. Was covid still fcuking things up there last year?

Andrew P's picture
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Andrew P Thursday, 12 Jan 2023 at 7:08pm

True. I think it went on hiatus for a bit but could be wrong. Those jaws images blow Waimea out the window!

Craig's picture
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Craig Thursday, 12 Jan 2023 at 12:35pm
burleigh's picture
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burleigh Thursday, 12 Jan 2023 at 12:40pm

That was incredible.

burleigh's picture
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burleigh Thursday, 12 Jan 2023 at 12:41pm

Man this live feed is hard to watch. Slow 1 wave sets and half the size i expected.

udo's picture
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udo Thursday, 12 Jan 2023 at 12:47pm

Jeeezus Kempers Cave
#Buggs

A l b e e

udo's picture
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udo Thursday, 12 Jan 2023 at 12:49pm
goofyfoot's picture
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goofyfoot Thursday, 12 Jan 2023 at 2:57pm

Holy hell that’s insane

Jono's picture
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Jono Thursday, 12 Jan 2023 at 3:28pm

Amazing that these shots just get posted straight to insta for a quick view. Would have been the cover of any mag back in the ol' days, kids would stare at it for hours/days on end.

Craig's picture
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Craig Thursday, 12 Jan 2023 at 3:29pm

Yeah mental eh!

andy-mac's picture
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andy-mac Friday, 13 Jan 2023 at 12:23pm

Wow! Epic ..

Island Bay's picture
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Island Bay Thursday, 12 Jan 2023 at 1:37pm

Unbelievable!

So clean, so big, and hollow.

udo's picture
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udo Thursday, 12 Jan 2023 at 1:50pm
Clam's picture
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Clam Thursday, 12 Jan 2023 at 4:42pm

the Eddie has always had some hype regarding forecasts, plenty of false alarms. also the competitors list is not typical list you see. Russ bierke may have to do a few more seasons yet.

udo's picture
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udo Thursday, 12 Jan 2023 at 5:21pm

.

surfcarter's picture
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surfcarter Thursday, 12 Jan 2023 at 5:32pm

Surflines 20ft plus is like 10plus Australian LoL

burleigh's picture
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burleigh Thursday, 12 Jan 2023 at 5:54pm

Hype of the century. At The Bay anyway. Jaws was BIG

Island Bay's picture
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Island Bay Thursday, 12 Jan 2023 at 6:06pm

Kai Lenny may toy with Jaws, but Billy K now has the two best barrels out there. Or?

bbbird's picture
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bbbird Thursday, 12 Jan 2023 at 9:05pm

How 'bout' a double barrel with your bro 12/1/23

Island Bay's picture
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Island Bay Friday, 13 Jan 2023 at 9:19am

Well done!

Btw, an honest tow board question (I've never towed, let alone in massive waves): It almost always looks like even the top guys are struggling to control their tiny tow boards. Why not go a little longer? You're going stupid fast, so surely a ~7'0 x 17" would feel better and smoother?

Lanky Dean's picture
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Lanky Dean Friday, 13 Jan 2023 at 12:08pm

I really miss tow surfing footage.
I figure now days that they may have stopped too early.
Or were kooked out of the line up.
They did start with bigger boards at jaws back in the day..
Lopez slowly started bringing the dimensions down.
You have to remember they were all avid snowboarders crossing over technology.

Still feel there is room in the tow realm.
A quite resurgence needs to happen.

Balbero's picture
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Balbero Thursday, 12 Jan 2023 at 7:28pm

It was the right call not to run the Eddie today.

bluediamond's picture
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bluediamond Thursday, 12 Jan 2023 at 8:51pm

I watched a fair bit of Waimea and actually enjoyed it. Was slow, wasn't jaws, but, still looked big to me..lots of water moving, watching how they placed themselves when a set came, the different approaches to catching a wave and how all the different sized boards worked and how that corresponded to positioning on takeoff. Thoroughly enjoyable, well presented free entertainment.

udo's picture
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udo Thursday, 12 Jan 2023 at 9:25pm

bbbird's picture
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bbbird Thursday, 12 Jan 2023 at 10:37pm

Plenty of party waves yesterday, few made the close outs

udo's picture
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udo Friday, 13 Jan 2023 at 9:28am

Whens the next Eddie swell Craig ?

Craig's picture
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Craig Friday, 13 Jan 2023 at 9:29am

Not much coming unfortunately.

walkar's picture
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walkar Friday, 20 Jan 2023 at 10:22am
wally's picture
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wally Friday, 20 Jan 2023 at 4:46pm

The photo at the top of this article is a pretty all-time great photo. J. Florence taking the inside line. Red board looking back for an amazing view. Yellow board managing to get out of the way by not very much. Blue board has just made it over.

wally's picture
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wally Friday, 20 Jan 2023 at 5:14pm

After a quick investigation, Mason Ho is the other surfer riding the wave.