“The ‘Duke’ Does It Again,” by Patrick McNulty, 

“Surfing contests,” said Australia’s Bob McTavish, grinning wet and happy on the sands of Sunset Beach, “are ridiculous. I’m against them in principle—but the Duke is different: a group of top surfers from all over getting together just to surf great waves and exchange ideas . . . it’s beautiful, just beautiful . . . .”

As he spoke, pint-sized McTavish was facing probably the most challenging break in surfing where, in a few moments, Jock Sutherland was going to rip the 8-to-12-foot surf in the third annual Duke Kahanamoku Invitational Surfing Championships. Along with Sutherland and Aussie power surfer McTavish were 22 other specially invited big-name surfers from Hawaii, West Coast, East Coast, and Australia. The names were familiar to any connoisseur of great surfing: Grigg, Downing Strauch, Doyle, Carroll, Van Artsdalen, Dora, among others.

There were new faces this year, among them New Jersey-born Charley Galento who now makes his home in the Islands; Herbie Fletcher from the West Coast; East Coasters Dick Catri and Claude Codgen; and Northern Californian Dick Keating who proved that he’s right at home on the strong, booming Sunset peaks. And back for more, of course, was were defending champion Ricky Grigg and little Jeff Hakman, winner of the first contest in 1965.

The contest unfolded in one day, December 15, before the movie and television cameras, and a crowd of 1,000 fans who clustered, as usual, mostly in the yard of Val Valentine’s house in front of the break at Sunset. Valentine is the unofficial mayor of the North Shore and it has become a tradition in the past three years that the Duke contest annually turns Val’s yard into the capital of the surfing world.

This year was no exception. Surfing aficionados from the Mainland and Hawaii lined up expectantly as the first heat of six surfers paddled out into the lineup. The sets were running eight-to-ten-feet but the shape was uneven. Ricky Grigg, who led off the first heat, complained later that the “shapeless waves cut down on the quality of the surfing.”

From the beach, however, the surfing quality appeared excellent and time and again Grigg demonstrated that he’s master of the famous North Shore break where he gained early fame as a big-wave rider.

Picking his waves with the ease that comes only with experience, Grigg piled up enough points to edge Hawaii’s Paul Strauch Jr., always a tough competitor in any size water. Mike Hynson was third, exhibiting his famous smooth style, followed in order by Dick Catri, Herb Fletcher and Charley Galento. Under the rules, two surfers from each heat moved into the finals.

The second heat was a war between Mike Doyle and Jeff Hakman, who grew up surfing Sunset. Doyle demonstrated that he’s deserving of his reputation as a top waterman, repeatedly lining up in just the right spot of the changing peak. Hakman was a close second with Dick Keating and Eddie Aikau tied for third, Corky Carroll fourth, and Mickey Dora fifth.

Keating, surfing Sunset for the first time, gave notice that he can handle the pressure of surfing’s elite contest. A Santa Cruz regular who lives in Pacifica north of San Francisco, Keating probably would have finished higher but he took the long swim after a wipeout. Keating was driving into a bottom turn at the base of a Sunset wall when his skeg broke free and he went down the drain.

Hawaii’s Ben Aipa easily was the class of the third heat that featured a lineup of Hawaiians: Fred Hemmings, Felipe Pomar the transplanted Peruvian, Jock Sutherland, West Coaster Rusty Miller, and East Coaster Bruce Valluzzi. Aipa’s turns frequently brought 

 from Valentine’s yard and approving glances among the TV cameramen filming the action for CBS 

 program. Aipa carved up the waves that were now building into fairly consistent 12-foot walls. The muscular Hawaiian repeatedly dropped to the bottom and then drove back to the top in a daring exhibition of wave judgment and board control.

But Aipa was hard-pressed by Sutherland who, like Hakman, grew up on North Shore waves. Sutherland’s performance, although not as spectacular as Aipa’s lesson in climbing and dropping, earned the skinny 19-year-old a first-place tie with Aipa. Rusty Miller was voted into second spot, and the three—Aipa, Sutherland and Miller—advanced to the finals. Pomar was third, Hemmings fourth, and Valuzzi fifth.

“It was a difficult heat to pick just two winners from because the riding was so excellent,” said Meet Director Fred Van Dyke. “So I decided to put three, instead of two, into the finals.”

The fourth and final heat featured four North Shore experts: George Downing, Butch Van Artsdalen, Jackie Eberle and Greg Noll. The East Coast’s Claude Codgen and McTavish rounded out the heat.

Bob McTavish had surfed Sunset several years ago during a Hawaiian visit cut short when officials discovered that McTavish had come to the Islands without papers as a stowaway aboard an Australian liner. Immigration officials scooped up McTavish in a net and sent him back Down Under. So this was his first return to the shifting peaks of Sunset.

Eberle was the first-place pick of the judging panel that included Hawaiians Kimo Hollinger and Wally Froiseth and Mainlanders Walter Hoffman and Phil Edwards, who now makes his home in Honolulu. George Downing was second in the heat, followed in order by McTavish, Greg Noll, Van Artsdalen, and Codgen.

McTavish probably would have done better but he spent the better part of the heat swimming after two wipeouts. His daring climbing and dropping on the Sunset walls impressed the regulars with the beauty of the so-called Aussie “power surfing” theory.

Using an experimental nine-foot board with a thick V-bottom tail, McTavish demonstrated that he’s one of the most creative surfers in the sport. His wipeouts came mostly from just being unfamiliar with the heavy-toppling Sunset peaks. Time and again, McTavish dropped down a wave, climbed sharply to the top and drove back down, using the power from the breaking top. His wipeouts came when the top snapped over in the characteristic Sunset manner. McTavish said later that with a little more familiarity with the break and a modification on his board, he thinks he can master Sunset.

The ride of the heat—and quite probably the entire contest—went to Butch Van Artsdalen. He went left, which at Sunset is especially risky because the swell pours over a ragged coral reef where the sets section erratically. Van Artsdalen, riding low and then climbing into the curl, beat the break for a long thrilling ride that once again brought a mighty cheer from the beach. He took gas when a sectioning part of the wave curled over and ate him in a shower of foam. The swim to the beach cost Van Artsdalen valuable minutes that any contestant needs to pile up winning points.

After a brief rest that gave the cameramen time to reload film magazines, the nine finalists took to the water: Grigg, Strauch, Hakman, Doyle, Aipa, Miller, Sutherland, Downing, and Eberle.

The judges were giving points during the one-hour final under the rules of the International Surfing Federation formula. Briefly, it is this: Each judge grades each ride on a 0 to 20 basis and the surfer gets the most points by “traveling the greatest distance at the greatest speed in the most critical part of the wave.” The judges also are advised to take a close look at wave judgment, functional maneuvers, form, and board control. Surfers were given points on their best five rides and contestants were warned that the interference rule would be strictly enforced.

Sutherland scored a convincing victory. There wasn’t a grumble from any quarter, including the contestants—a rarity for any surfing competition. Rusty Miller summed up the feeling of the others when he said, “Jock won it handily. He rode Sunset the way it should be ridden. He took a lot of chances, but he got away with them—and that’s what really counts in a contest like this. You have to gamble to win.”

Several times Sutherland flirted dangerously with that tricky Sunset peak that had done in McTavish and several others. Sutherland often dropped in extremely close to the hook and then, climbing and riding high, raced across the tumbling wall to pick up plenty of judges’ points. He was especially impressive on one big wall, dropping in behind Bruce Valuzzi and then powering behind him and beating the break that eventually caught and ate Valuzzi.

Eberle tried to match Sutherland’s daring and took some dangerous lefts. Jackie picked up points but he also swam twice, thus losing any chance at first place. Even under the one-hour time limit for the finals, a surfer didn’t have time or stamina to stroke into the beach, retrieve his board and make it back to the lineup.

Meet Director Van Dyke didn’t immediately announce a winner, although it was pretty much conceded among officials and contestants that Sutherland had wrapped it up. Van Dyke was considering more competition if the swell got bigger. He even thought about sending the finalists out at the Pipeline if it broke big because, as he explained, “The Duke contest is a unique contest and the rules change as we go along. Certainly, our goal is to test these surfers in the toughest water possible. So it would be quite consistent to have a double, or even triple, final. The Duke contest is set up to take advantage of the best waves during a four-day period. We could go to the Pipeline, Waimea, even Makaha on the other side if we got the swell. Fortunately, the Duke contest doesn’t have to worry about specific dates and huge beach crowds. We can make our own rules.”

The weather broke badly, however. The Kona wind blew fierce and wet the next day and the quality of the waves dropped off. Van Dyke, who has lived on the North Shore for six years, guessed right by holding the competition on what was the first day of the four-day event window.

The competition was matched in excellence by the reception given the surfers during their stay in the Islands. Kimo Wilder McVay, the impresario of the contest, opened with a party where the surfers were introduced to the press. After that, contestants were on the go—either to the North Shore for surf or to the many social functions.

The contestants checked into the famous Royal Hawaiian Hotel, the ancient pink lady of the Waikiki strip, for their stay. The next morning they were up early and on the bus for the one-hour ride to Sunset Beach. After the contest, they returned to the Royal for a quick shower and then a dinner and rockout at Duke Kahanamoku’s restaurant at the International Market Place along the Waikiki strand. Many of the contestants took the nightlife easy, however, because Van Dyke still hadn’t announced whether there would be competition the following day.

There was a brief awards ceremony at the Royal. Trophies were given out and then the top surfers of the sport broke camp.

Where were they headed? The North Shore, of course, where Pipeline and Sunset came up with big swells the next week. Many got ready for the Makaha contest—and many did not. Among the latter was McTavish, who commented, “Surfing contests? I don’t believe in them—except the Duke contest, of course. It’s beautiful, just beautiful.”

1967 Duke Kahanamoku Invitational Surfing Championships

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