Eddie Aikau’s story might be the best known in surfing. We’ve all been brought up on the heroic act. Surfers know that Eddie was one of 16 people who boarded a canoe bound for Tahiti. A few hours later, in rough water in the Kaiwi Channel, the double-hulled canoe flipped. Everyone clung to the upturned hull through the night. Eddie, one of Hawaii’s best big wave riders and the most respected lifeguard on the North Shore, asked twice for permission to paddle for help on his surfboard. At first light, the crew joined hands in a prayer, and he went. He paddled toward Molokaʻi. The Coast Guard found and rescued the rest of the crew. Eddie was never seen again. That story might have been one of surfing’s more heroic footnotes if it wasn’t for the Eddie Aikau Invitational, which started in 1984 and has since become one of surfing’s most prestigious events.…