The Quik: In Memory of Brock Little?

Quiksilver considers new name for world's most prestigious big-wave event!

Two weeks ago, it was revealed, here, that a dispute between the Aikau family and Quiksilver had evaporated the famous partnership and big-wave event The Quiksilver: In Memory of Eddie Aikau.

And, now, Quiksilver, which holds the permits for the event, is considering keeping it alive, as is, but the shifting names. Instead of The Quiksilver: In Memory of Eddie Aikau, it could be Brock Little, Todd Chesser, Mark Foo, maybe even Jose Angel, another underground big-wave stud. 

So how did such a fruitful relationship, which includes the lucrative sale of Eddie Aikau-Quiksilver merchandise, wind up in the gravel, pecking for worms?

Here’s the background: the previous ten-year deal was expiring in the spring of 2016 and Quiksilver and the Aikau family began negotiating a new deal. The Aikau family were advised that a potentially better deal might be out there if they shopped it around a little, howevs. Red Bull was in the mix, initially, (read about that here), but apparently, Red Bull and the WSL couldn’t couldn’t find a way to play nice so they pulled out at the last minute, leaving the Aikaus with no deal.

BeachGrit believes Quiksilver has submitted multiple offers to the Aikaus, all with increased revenue sharing opportunities but all have been rejected. There are still negotiations underway between Quik the the family as of this past week.

You’ll remember how The Eddie peaked in February this year when John John Florence won the contest, which has run only nine times in the past thirty-two years, in the best conditions ever.

Wouldn’t it be a fine way to say aloha to The Eddie and slip in The Brock?

Yeah, and no. Quiksilver, we believe, sees the point about this year’s event being a good way to sign off, but, this is biz, right? And they sell a ton of Eddie product even in the off years. Quiksilver’s master, Oaktree Capital Management, therefore, is pushing for a new deal with the Aikaus.

And the name?

My money, for what that’s worth given my recent performance with Billabong shares, is the name will fall on Brock Little.

How could it not?

Brock finished fourth in the Eddie when he was nineteen; second in 1990, and in thirty-foot surf, including the wipeout pictured that he took with unflinching calm. Brock faced death with a similar calm. A month or two before he died of liver cancer earlier this year, I called and we talked about bout his prognosis (not good), why he told the world via IG (“When you’re out there looking like shit, it’s pretty obvious you have fucking cancer”) and how he feels about it all (“I’m so stoked. I’ve had a great life and what I’ve lived through and what I’ve done in my life, crazy good times.”).

The Brock. Don’t it sound good…

Brock Little, 1967-2016 from ENCYCLOPEDIA of SURFING videos on Vimeo.