Legends Luau Brings Surf Icons Together to Fight Cancer

There was a palpable energy running through the crowd at La Jolla shores last weekend as the 31st Annual Luau & Legends of Surfing Invitational kicked off. More recent names to reach legend status like Paige Alms , Greg Long , Ian Walsh and Jaws kiteboarder Olivia Jenkins were rubbing shoulders with established icons like Jock Sutherland, Pat O'Connell, Buzzy Kerbox, Damian Hobgood, World champs Debbie Beacham, and Peter Townend. The full list supporting this event would fill half the Encyclopedia of Surfing.

"It's the up-and-coming legends that will keep this critical effort going long after I'm gone," noted cofounder John Otterson.

Thirty-one years later they are still raising more than half a million dollars a year - and more – to the Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego. A fundraising juggernaut with biotech companies contributing hugely to contend in the surf contest with legends on each team, this is essentially a celebrity golf tournament substituting waves for greens and iconic surfers for legendary golf aces. But it’s a lot more fun.

“We have been working on this since 1993,” observed co-founder Sam Armstrong. “And every year it just seems to get better and better.”

Two of the true drivers of this event, Otterman and Armstrong have made sure every detail of the annual occasion is truly first class – from the delicious luau fare to the rich lineup of attendees. Media coverage, judging, music, and hula dancers are top shelf. Great camaraderie, valuable auction items and beautiful gifts for the legends all create an atmosphere of quality and style.

The 2024 Luau and Legends has now become the largest and longest running charity event in the world of surfing. With over $12 million raised since its founding, the event has become legendary itself.

Tube-master Jojo Roper and Red Bull team manager Sabine Schindlbauer helped pull the Jaws XXXL group together. And there is a very personal reason so many of these legends support the fundraising event to fight cancer. Many of them are cancer survivors. Olivia Jenkins is being treated for Stage 2 nodular sclerosing Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Rell Sunn (who has an award named after her at the Luau) and is a leading light even in her passing.

Industry veteran Tyler Calloway, tow in pioneer Darrick Doerner, "Endless Summer II" star Robert "Wingnut" Weaver, and Bird Huffman have all fought cancer and all attend this event annually. With Gregory Harrison, Ira Opper, LJ Richards, Joe Roper, Guy Takayama, Evan Slater, Steve Walden, Hank Werner, Jon Roseman, Dane Perlee, Paul Tomson, and Josh Hall contributing as judges, celebrity team riders and observers, this is a show worth seeing and a cause worth contributing to. Aloha to all.

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