Clyde Aikau

Clyde Aikau was born on October 24, 1949 in Hawaii. The younger brother of legendary pioneering big wave surfer Eddie Aikau, Clyde first started surfing in 1964 under Eddie's expert tutelage at age fifteen in Waikiki and soon established himself as one of the top junior division surfers on Hawaii's North Shore. After winning the Makaha International Surfing Championship, Aikau went on to become the first native Hawaiian surfer to win the prestigious Duke Kahanamoku Invitational Surfing Championship in 1973. Among Clyde's other notable surfing contest feats are placing seventh at the Pro Class Trials in 1976, taking third place at the Stubbies Surf Classic in 1977, and winning the inaugural Quicksilver Eddie Aikau Big Wave Contest in 1986. In the wake of this latter feat Aikau continued to excel at subsequent Quicksilver contests: He placed fifth in 1990, tenth in 2001, and, at age 52, placed eighth the following year. Clyde lives on the North Shore in Hawaii and runs the Aikau Pure Hawaiian Surf Academy at Waikiki beach.