“The surfing world has lost a legend Sunday night,
Braddah Clyde Aikau…”
The great Clyde Aikau, little brother of the
legendary North Shore lifeguard
Eddie Aikau, has died aged seventy-five.
The last time Clyde Aikau was on these pages was two years back
when he was rushed to a Las Vegas hospital for emergency heart
surgery for an aortic aneurysm after he collapsed leaving a
restaurant. A subsequent crowdfunding account was led by Kelly
Slater who deposited one thousand dollars to help the Hawaiian
legend.
Clyde died Saturday night at his Waimanalo home from pancreatic
cancer.
Johnny Boy Gomes, one of the best in the Pipe-chasing game in
the nineties, posted on IG.
I’m writing this with a heavy heart The surfing world has
lost a legend Sunday night, Braddah Clyde Aikau My Thoughts,
Prayers & Aloha, Are With The Aikau O’hana
Older surfers will remember Clyde’s classic win on a wave-score
countback with Mark Foo at the 1986 Quiksilver In Memory of Eddie
Aikau at Waimea Bay, the famous big wave event named after his
brother who went missing while trying to save his crew-mates on the
ill-fated Polynesian voyaging canoe Hokule’a.
The crew had embarked on a voyage from Hawaii to Tahiti to
recreate the ancient Polynesian migration routes. The Hokule’a encountered rough
weather and capsized in the Molokai Channel. Eddie volunteered to
paddle on his surfboard toward the island of Lanai to seek help for
the crew and was never seen again.
Clyde Aikau would later claim it was the spirit of his brother
in the form of two turtles who guided him to the win,
“So I looked at these two turtles, and I followed them,” he said in
an interview with PBS in 2014.
“And this is where everybody sits down, all five guys, and I
would follow the turtles past them, and go deeper than all of them,
about a hundred feet out. And as soon as I got to that point, the
biggest wave of the day would just pull right in, and I’d jump
right on it. And just rip it up, come all the way in, and I’d
paddle out, and the turtles would be there again. And I’d follow
these turtles.”
In 1990, Clyde Aikau placed fifth in the Eddie, tenth in 2001
and eighth in 2002.
Maybe you remember the ruckus over the contest which is now
called The Eddie Aikau Invitational after the Aikau family rejected
offers from Quiksilver when their ten-year agreement expired in
2016.
Thing was, Quiksilver owned the permits for the 2015-16 contest
and canvassed the idea of calling it a different name to circumvent
the need to involve the famous Hawaiian family. Quiksilver played
around with The Quiksilver: In Memory of Jose Angel, The
Quiksilver: In Memory of Todd Chesser, The Quiksilver: In Memory of
Brock Little.
Anyway, the contest went ahead in 2016 as The Quiksilver: In
Memory Of Eddie Aikau and the agreement was terminated shortly
after.
Fittingly, it was the last time Clyde, then aged sixty-six,
would surf in the event, finishing twentieth out of
twenty-nine.
The family released a statement following his death a short time
ago.
LEGENDARY HAWAIIAN WATERMAN
CLYDE AIKAU PASSES AWAY AT 75
HONOLULU (Monday,
May 5, 2025) — Legendary Hawaiian waterman Clyde Aikau,
the younger brother of world renowned waterman Eddie Aikau, passed
away peacefully at his Waimanalo home on Saturday evening. Clyde,
75, is survived by his wife Eleni Aikau, son Ha’a Aikau, sister
Myra Aikau, nieces and nephews.
Clyde
was the youngest of six children born to Solomon ‘Pops’ and
Henrietta Aikau in Kahului, Maui, on October 24, 1949. His
siblings, from oldest to youngest were Fred, Myra, Eddie, Gerald
and Solomon III. The family moved from Maui to O’ahu in
1959.
Clyde
and Eddie were the closest of brothers, sharing a passion and
commitment to family, Hawaiian culture, and the ocean. They both
served as North Shore lifeguards; voyaged on Hokule’a (separate
voyages); rode giant winter waves at Waimea Bay; and were famous
for their impromptu slack key guitar sessions that they shared with
family and friends around the Islands and the world.
After
the loss of his brother Eddie in 1978, Clyde followed through with
his lifetime commitment to perpetuate Eddie’s legacy and
contributions to big wave riding and Hawaiian culture.
In 1986,
Clyde won the inaugural Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational at Waimea
Bay, in tribute to his brother. He continued to surf in the event
every year it was held up to the age of 66 (2016), forging an
unrivaled big wave legacy all his own.
During
his storied life, Clyde ran a Waikiki Beachboy service for many
years. He also served as a liaison between the Department of
Education and houseless families and children in Hawaii to ensure
they had access to school supplies, transportation, and ultimately
education. Clyde was a lifelong education advocate, having attended
the University of Hawaii where he pursued a degree in
Sociology.
In
recent years, Clyde rallied with his family’s support through a
series of heart issues and ultimately pancreatic cancer. While that
road was a difficult one, he never allowed it to get in the way of
his eternal optimism and zest for life. He continued on with his
family duties, supported his wife’s dog boarding and training
business, and ensured the success of his brother’s
event.
The
Aikau family wishes to express its deepest gratitude to the
community of Hawai’i, and their extended friends and family abroad,
for the heartfelt wishes they have received at this
time.
Details
regarding upcoming services for Clyde will be announced when
confirmed.
Aloha.
