If the soul of surfing is Hawaiian, then the heart of the sport is, was and always will be Duke Kahanamoku.

Hawaii’s first Olympian is regarded as the "Father of Modern Surfing," but he was so much more to the members of his Duke Surf Team.

"Duke was an inspiration, a role model for all of us who surfed," said Joey Cabell, one of the four legendary surfers who comprised the traveling surf competition team. "He was the person who set a direction many of us followed in life.

"The team was all about Duke and his inspiration. We were lucky to be around him at that time of his life, to live the life he had already lived. It was a special time."

The team, created by Kahanamoku’s manager, Kimo McVay, in 1965, will be honored at next Saturday’s Duke Kahanamoku Challenge. The 27th annual fundraiser for the Waikiki Community Center features a day of outrigger canoe racing, Hawaiian makahiki games, entertainment and cultural activities at Kalia, the ancestral home of Kahanamoku that is now the Hilton property.

Cabell, Fred Hemmings, Paul Strauch and the late Butch Van Artsdalen are this year’s honorees, and "there couldn’t be a better group to honor at Duke’s beach," said Jeff Apaka, Waikiki Community Center’s director of community relations and event coordinator the past 15 years. "These are legendary watermen, young men that Duke Kahanamoku took under his arm and nurtured."

For three years, until Kahanamoku’s death in 1968, the surf team traveled to compete and act as the sport’s ambassadors.

"It was incredibly fun," said Hemmings, who was 19 when he was invited to join the team. "Just to be around him in the final years of his life was an honor.

"I was living my dreams. It was the ’60s, what I consider the golden era of surfing. And we were with the man who was the greatest citizen of Hawaii in the 20th century."

There are stories, as all surfers will tell, of the perfect rides on the perfect waves. Some have turned into what could be called "kai nu‘u a kane" — the foamy sea that follows after a tumbling wave — a cloudy mix of fact and fiction.

"Some of his stories have become folklore," Hemmings said. "There’s the one of that big wave he rode for a mile, Castles (surf spot) into Waikiki.

"In the ’60s, I caught a very large wave but could only get to the Kapahulu Groin. Months later I asked Duke about his wave and he said no one could make the ride he did. He wasn’t bragging. He then explained that when the Ala Wai Canal was built, it closed out the three streams that used to feed into Waikiki and it changed the way the waves now were.

"It showed me his great intuitive knowledge of the ocean. Much of what I learned from him was subtle but meaningful. I did pay attention. Money can’t buy those things in life."

Hemmings, a former state senator, and Cabell, who founded the Chart House restaurant chain, remained in Hawaii. Strauch, who moved to California, is flying in next week for the event.

Artsdalen, a pioneer big-wave surfer nicknamed "Mr. Pipeline," died in 1979.

"I have to say that teaming with these guys was such a blessing," Hemmings said. "They were three very dynamic guys, great athletes and life-long friends.

"We were all blessed to be with Duke, who was so full with the true meaning of aloha. When you look at all the great leaders Hawaii has had, the most beloved is a paddler, swimmer and surfer. That’s a tribute to the greatness of the man."

The event also includes entertainment from Raiatea Helm, Melveen Leed, Darren Benitez and Waipuna. Admission is free.