the eddie aikau invitational big wave surf contest is now underway... and is
being broadcast live....this is live broadcast on youtube in case anyone
is intersted...
.
the contest is still going on.... jj florence was in the lead at one point..... but they haven;t given any standings since then or for for the last 2 heats ... they said they are holding the scores until the end this evening... to announce the overall winner all at one time.... .....
i don;t think clark little is one of the photographers in the water today.... .he might be photographing from a drone... he has been posting aerial pics of the crowd from overhead while the contest is underway.....
there is still one more heat to go and according to info coming from the northwest bouys it might be the biggest wave heights yet.. . last readings recorded swells with massive energy that could produce waves 50 plus feet at the faces ........ and the wind is remaining true from the east directly into the waves and increasing in strength... .for the past hour the ehukai action has been beautiful...(mist and spray blowing backwards off the waves)... . huge rainbows .... ....if we had gone this year instead of staying home and watching it on tv, we would have missed most of that close up action.... the tv coverage was the best it has ever been....
that has always been one of the biggest problems at waimea... ...even when there is no contest but just big waves coming in.... it;s a nightmare for ocean safety to keep spectators back far enough to prevent them from being swept off their feet and into the shore break when waves send water crashing up the beach embankment.... .....i;ve actually seen water rush all the way across the grassy area and into the parking lot on days that were bigger than yesterday... those are days when the waves are too big and too gnarly for any contest or even any surfer...
but yesterdays crowd was the biggest group of people i ever saw there from just looking at the pictures.. ..they said 50,000 people at one point.... ... ironically the beach/grass line is not even the best place to get the best view of the waves at waimea.... . it;s up on the cliffs between the bay and the road where the best views can be seen....
luke shepardson won yesterday with an almost perfect score on 3 waves..... he;s a north shore life guard who got relief at his station further down the coast just so he could compete.... ..he went right back to work after the awards ceremony... ....johnjohn florence took second place... i;m not sure what his score was..
here is the highlight video of some of the best rides....
