It’s hard to grasp that it’s been 14 years since we had the celebrated of Andy’s life at Hanalei…it was the largest paddle out I had ever seen.
I’d been writing about this icon of surfing, this once in a generation talent, in my Midweek surf columns for so long (along with his greatest rival Kelly Slater) …it somehow seemed surreal.
If his legend wasn’t big enough already…there just happened to be an insane new perfect WNW building during the event. Hanalei going off and blessing one of its very own, Andy Irons.
I’m absolutely certain Andy was being honored.
Mahalo Andy, for your amazing life and inspiration.
AI Forever.
Aloha,
Gary GQ Kewley
Front page image Jeff Divine
Philip Andrew Irons (July 24, 1978 – November 2, 2010) was an American professional surfer. Irons began surfing with his brother Bruce on the shallow and dangerous waves of Kauai, Hawaii, before being spotted by a local surfboard brand and flown to North Shore, Oahu, Hawaii, to compete and develop his skill.
Over the course of his professional career, he won three world titles (2002, 2003, 2004), three Quiksilver Pro France titles (2003, 2004, 2005), two Rip Curl Pro Search titles (2006 and 2007), and 20 elite-tour victories, including the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing four times from 2002 to 2006. He won at nearly every venue on the ASP calendar, only missing Gold Coast, Brazil, and Portugal.
Irons married Lyndie Dupuis on November 25, 2007, in Princeville, Kauai. She was seven months pregnant with their first child at the time of his death. Lyndie gave birth to their son, Andy Axel Irons, in Kauai on the opening day of the Pipeline Masters in Memory of Andy Irons on December 8, 2010. Lyndie and Axel continue to live on Kauai, where she and Andy shared a home.
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