Australian-born brand Rip Curl has signed a partnership deal with the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational surfing competition.
The Eddie is a competitive big-wave surfing competition, with 2024 marking its 40th anniversary. The competition will be held at Waimea Bay in Hawaii.
“It is an incredible honour for Rip Curl to be a partner of the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational,” Rip Curl CEO Brooke Farris said. “This event is legendary, as are the big wave surfers who take on the giant waves of Waimea Bay.
“With our 55-year history of championing surfing events around the world, it is with great respect that we place our name alongside of Eddie Aikau, celebrating an incredible legacy and supporting an event that means so much to the surfing community.”
The event was established in memory of the late Aikau, a Hawaiian surfer and lifeguard, with its first run in 1984. The Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational requires a full day of consistent 25-foot surf in order to go ahead. Because of thsi requirement, the event has only been run ten times in 40 years.
The format features an exclusive invite list of 40 surfers who are chosen by the Aikau family at the start of every winter season in Hawaii. There are also an additional 23 alternate surfers invited.
The last running of the event in 2023 saw North Shore (Hawaii) lifeguard Luke Shepardson take the win. Shepardson had been scheduled to work the lifeguard tower at Waimea the day of the Eddie and took breaks during his shift to go surf his heats. Eventually he went on to win the contest in front of nearly 50,000 attendees on the beach, as well as an online audience of an estimated 3.5 million.
Other previous winners include 11-time World Champion Kelly Slater, two-time World Champion John John Florence, as well as big-wave icons Greg Long and Bruce Irons and the first ever winner of the Eddie, Clyde Aikau.
“The Eddie Aikau Foundation Board of Directors are honoured to welcome Rip Curl as a new sponsor for the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational events,” Eddie Aikau Foundation president Linda Ipsen said.
“We believe that the Rip Curl staff and executives understand the importance of our mission to perpetuate the legacy of Eddie Aikau and Hawaiian culture.”
“The Eddie honours the remarkable character and values displayed by Eddie Aikau during his career as a heroic lifeguard, Big Wave surfer and crew member of the Hawaiian voyaging canoe, Hokule’a. Our partnership with Rip Curl, an international organisation, will give us the opportunity to share the Aloha Spirit that Eddie Aikau exemplified, with a worldwide audience.”
Rip Curl's latest surfing partnership follows the second launch of its own virtual surfing competition, as well as the extension of multiple surfing sponsorships.