Duke’s OceanFest kicks off eight days of ocean sports events Saturday while celebrating its 20th anniversary, which goes back to 2002 when the U.S. Postal Service unveiled its Duke Kahanamoku stamp.
The event, which runs through Aug. 28, was established to honor Kahanamoku’s legacy and achievements and to celebrate the culmination of the more than three-decade push to make him the first Native Hawaiian to be featured on a postage stamp.
“Duke Kahanamoku was considered Hawaii’s first
ambassador of aloha,” said Chris Colgate, who along with Jim Fulton was one of OceanFest’s first event hosts. “One of the reasons to keep his legacy alive is to teach the younger generation the importance of aloha, the importance of caring for people and the
importance of living life in a very positive and yet humble manner.”
Kahanamoku, who was born Aug. 24, 1890, and died Jan. 22, 1968, was at one time considered the world’s fastest swimmer. A born waterman, he won five swimming medals over three Olympics, including three golds. Kahanamoku also was a champion canoe paddler and steersman, and was known as the father of
modern surfing, a sport he spread throughout the world on his many goodwill tours.
Fulton said the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Foundation was formed in 1986 and joined efforts to get Kahanamoku’s image on a stamp.
“It was felt that after the Duke statue was erected (in Waikiki) in 1990, that from 1991 to 2002 not much was published about Duke and his presence had faded,” Fulton said. “In 2002 we held the first OceanFest when
the stamp was issued, and we’ve continued it every year to continue his legacy.
I believe that everyone has learned more and knows more and appreciates Duke more because we have not let his legacy diminish.”
Fulton said Duke’s OceanFest also was designed to support the ODKF. Since its inception the event has funneled more than $2.9 million in proceeds to ODKF scholarships and grants directed at Hawaii residents and nonprofit groups competing in “Duke-related” sports.
He said thousands turned out for OceanFest’s 2002 debut featuring the unveiling of the Kahanamoku stamp, which arrived at Duke Kahanamoku Beach on the traditional sailing canoe the Hawai‘iloa, accompanied by a flotilla of surfers and outrigger canoes.
The story behind the stamp, which was released on what would have been Kahanamoku’s 112th birthday, reflects a Herculean effort that included many other Hawaii organizations and people, as well as fans the world over. Among the who’s who of those involved were the Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association; Surfrider Foundation; International Surfing Museum in Huntington Beach, Calif.; novelist James Michener; former U.S. Sen. Barry
Goldwater; U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka; and Kona Carmack,
a Playboy centerfold from Hawaii.
That first daylong OceanFest at the Hilton Hawaiian Village beach included a surf contest, a mile-long ocean swim and a luau.
Colgate said the 20th-
anniversary celebration features some 20 events that are expected to draw up
to 3,000 competitors and 15,000 attendees, the largest crowd for a water sports competition in Waikiki since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’ve got a large contingency coming from Australia, Japan and, really, throughout the world,”
Colgate said.
Most of this year’s
festivities are planned for Queen’s Surf at Kuhio Beach, one of Kahanamoku’s favorite surfing spots. The opening ceremony will start at 5:30 p.m. Monday at the Duke Kahanamoku statue.
Flagship events include the Central Pacific Bank Menehune Surf Fest on Aug. 27, a pro-style surf competition meant to encourage surfing among Hawaii’s youth and introduce them to Kahanamoku’s legacy and his spirit of aloha. For many, this will be their first experience in competitive surfing.
Raising Cane’s Going to the Dogs SurFUR ComPETition on Tuesday is expected to be one of the more popular events with over 20 animals joining their humans in the waves at Baby Queen’s on paddleboards and surfboards. Past participants have included a pig, cat and duck, as well as dogs of all sizes.
On Wednesday the Outrigger Hotels and Resorts Legends Surfing Invitational will match sponsored teams of amateur surfers with some of the sport’s legends in a one-of-a-kind surf meet.
“Outrigger has been the official hospitality partner of Duke’s OceanFest since its inception 20 years ago, and we’re proud to help perpetuate Duke’s spirit of goodwill, aloha and gracious hospitality while raising funds for Hawaii’s scholar-athletes through the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Foundation,” said Sean Dee, executive vice president and chief commercial officer for Outrigger Hospitality Group.
The company also is sponsoring a beach volleyball challenge that starts Aug. 27.
Dylan Ching, vice president of operations for TS Restaurants Hawaii, said
the restaurant chain participates in Duke’s OceanFest every year. He said he especially looks forward to seeing his mother, Laura Blears, the first woman to win money competing in the sport and to surf against men, participate in the Legends invitational and other events as she has for more than a dozen years.
“It’s really important the OceanFest is returning to Waikiki, where it’s been the biggest water event for many years,” Ching said. “The event brings locals to Waikiki, and people like to see that Waikiki is meant for everyone, not just visitors. Of course, lots of people from the surfing and ocean community also are coming in from out of town. It’s just a very special week.”
Colgate said that over the years, OceanFest has led to spinoff events like a world tour for adaptive surfing. “It sprang from interest that emerged from AccesSurf events at OceanFest,” he said.
The Na Koa Wounded Warrior Canoe Regatta on Aug. 27 at Fort DeRussy Beach, manned by wounded warriors of America’s armed forces, also should be inspiring, Colgate said.
Most of the events are about tradition and reflect the sports that Kahanamoku excelled at, including water polo on surfboards.
“There’s a photo of Duke and his friends from 1929 playing water polo in front of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel,” Fulton said.
OceanFest also reflects modern pursuits. In 2019, according to Colgate, OceanFest had a foil-surfing exhibition with about five participants. This year, Colgate said, OceanFest will host the Head High World of Foil Team Challenge, which starts Wednesday. The competition reflects the growing popularity of the sport, which allows surfers to fly above the
water on short surfboards equipped with hydrofoils.
“It’s really amazing,” he said. “Foiling is now to the water community what windsurfing was 15 years ago. You can do it anywhere.”
Other contests include the Pacifico Longboard Classic, a mile-long swim, and paddleboard and stand-up paddleboard races.
There are also plenty of cultural and educational
opportunities. The Office of Hawaiian Affairs provided OceanFest with a $9,900 grant this year to underwrite a free showing of
“Waterman,” a feature
film chronicling Kahanamoku’s life. The film will be shown on Waikiki Beach at 6:30 p.m. Thursday near the Duke Kahanamoku statue.
On Wednesday there will be a documentary screening of “Beyond the Sport — Joey Cabell: The Legend of Surf” at 6 p.m. at the Hawaii Theatre downtown. A panel will follow the film, which organizers say “captures Joey Cabell’s story as a legendary championship surfer who helped revolutionize the sport in the 1960s in Hawaii, while becoming the ultimate renaissance man as a world-class sailor, skier, and entrepreneur in launching the famous Chart House restaurant brand.”
For the complete Duke’s OceanFest schedule, visit dukesoceanfest.com or
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