It was a great show. Fun to watch. The waves were huge. And a 27-year-old Oahu lifeguard named Luke Shepardson fittingly won the 2023 Eddie Aikau Invitational. We were most stoked by the fact that the event, which some argued would never happen without a previous corporate sponsor’s involvement, seemed to run flawlessly. The crowd onshore was massive (estimated at 50,000), the Kam was a parking lot, and the live show rolled well all day with all the angles any fan of big wave surfing could ask for. Best surf event ever? We think so.
Top 10 results went like this:
- Luke Shepardson
- John John Florence
- Mark Healey
- Billy Kemper
- Kai Lenny
- Ezekiel Lau (Best Wave of the Day)
- Landon McNamara
- Keali’i Mamala
- Lucas Chianca
- Ross Clarke-Jones
Paige Alms was the highest placing female surfer in 31st place ahead of Makani Adric, and Keala Kennelly.
Congratulations to the Aikau family and everyone involved with making January 22, 2023 an epic day at The Bay for everyone. For full results and coverage check out Surfline.com. Or, just press play to watch the whole thing.
[Link: Surfline.com, Beachgrit.com, and Hawaii News Now]
