“Even the jumpoff is gnarly. It’s like trying to get down Lennox Head rocks with 12-foot closeouts washing over you while you’re holding a 10'0". It’s absolutely horrendous. And it’s just the first of three parts. First, you jump off the rocks. Then, you make it out the back and think, ‘Thank f** I survived that.’ Then, you realize you’ve still got to deal with the wave, and you’re like, ‘This is also f**ed.’ And after you survive that, you realize you’ve got to go back up the rocks. It’s such a crazy experience.”

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Kipp Caddy Wins Paddle Category at Pe’ahi Challenge—On His First Wave Ever Ridden at Jaws

“The wave chose me. It came straight to me—no one else was in position.”

news // Mar 21, 2025

Words by Ethan Davis

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Australian big wave surfer and Desensitized star Kipp Caddy just pulled off a remarkable feat: winning the Paddle category at the Pe’ahi Challenge on his first-ever successfully ridden wave at Jaws.

For years, contests at Jaws were bogged down by logistical and bureaucratic hurdles—everything from securing permits to finding sponsors. After the World Surf League (WSL) pulled the plug on the Maui event, local surfers stepped up.

Daniel Goldberg, a big wave surfer and commercial fisherman, proposed a digital contest spanning the entire Hawaiian winter, open to both underground and established surfers, which eliminated the need for permits, spectator areas, large sponsorships, and strict event dates.

Judged by respected heavyweights like Mark Healey, Jamie Sterling, and Keala Kennelly, the Pe’ahi Challenge ran divisions for Best Paddle, Best Tow, Breakthrough Performer, People’s Choice, and Biggest Wave — you can find the full results at the bottom of this article.

Below, Kipp explains how he won the Best Paddle category on his first-ever wave at Jaws.

“I haven’t spent a whole lot of time riding big wave boards,” Kipp said, massively underselling his deep experience in monster surf. “So I ended up borrowing one of Nathan Florence’s 9’8”s for my week-long stay in Maui. It’s pretty classic actually—his WhatsApp photo is of him eating shit on that board. I was just looking at it thinking, ‘Fuuuuck, that’ll probably be me soon.’”

Staying with the seasoned screwfoot Francisco Porcella, Kipp arrived at the peak of the swell and finished his first session “on the real big day” waveless after getting lost at sea in Jaws’ enormous lineup. “I like to ease into things,” Kipp said. “I don’t want to push too hard until I get familiar and feel it out. It’s too dangerous with getting injured, and missing swells is always in the back of your mind.”

When the Eddie Aikau swell hit, Kipp was one of a handful of surfers who stayed behind while the rest of the surf world flocked to Waimea.

It was a day that Albee Layer claimed to have surfed the biggest waves of his life. “It was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before. The size, the thickness, and that 24-second interval were unreal. Sitting out there, you felt so insignificant. The fact that we caught waves was a huge step.”

“The wave I fell on, if it had thrown, would’ve been one of the best waves I’ve ever ridden,” Albee told Stab. “If I had made it, I think it would’ve been the pinnacle of surfing, as gross and claimy as that sounds. There’s nothing gnarlier than paddling into a barrel on the biggest day at Jaws. Shane’s wave back in the day was one of the most impressive I’ve seen, but if you make a barrel at Jaws on a big day, it’s nearly unbeatable.”

“It’s funny because every time the Eddie runs, Jaws kind of gets ignored. I get it—everyone wants to focus on what’s happening at the Eddie, where the best big wave surfers are. But it would be nice if one day, people acknowledged what we’re doing at Jaws. If guys like Kai Lenny, Ian Walsh, and Red Bull athletes were out there, there would be a six-part series with months of hype. But instead, it’s just us out there, pushing limits, and it doesn’t get the same attention.”

“That being said, there are definitely guys in the Eddie who wish they were at Jaws, but there’s also a lot of guys who are stoked to have an excuse. Don’t get me wrong—I’m not belittling the Eddie. It’s my favorite event to watch, and that wave is insane. But nothing compares to the difficulty and size of Jaws.”

Frames from Slater Neborsky

As many Australians will know, Kipp is no stranger to heavy water. Along with his Ulladulla High classmate Russell Bierke, the two had visibility in magazines before hitting puberty for their exploits at waves like Solander, Shipsterns and South Coast bombies — a journey chronicled in Desensitized, Caddy’s 20-minute feature film released in July last year, culminating in the tow wave of his life.

Still, no one could’ve anticipated how fruitful his first crack at Jaws would be.

“A couple of days later, a big West Swell came through. I had way more confidence just from handling those bigger waves beforehand. I sat between the North and West Peaks alone, and then, out of nowhere, this wave just chose me. It came straight to me—no one else was in position.”

“I remember Nate [Florence] and a few others saying, ‘The best waves are between the North and West Peaks,’ but they only break a few times a day, maybe just a handful. The crew was talking about how those waves are the ones that throw, and I guess I was just chilling there because everyone was crowded at the North Peak. The wave kind of swung wider, and I just got gifted it.”

“It definitely wasn’t a massive wave by Jaws standards, but it was pretty deep. I honestly felt like I wasn’t going to make it the whole way, but the wave just kept letting me go. When I finally kicked out, I didn’t know how to react. I was like, ‘Was that crazy? Or not?’ The only other wave I paddled into at Jaws was three years ago, but I literally stood up, got halfway down, and realized it was a closeout and jumped off. So it was the first wave I’ve successfully ridden, and I didn’t really have a sense of scale for it. Still, in the moment, I threw my arms up like, ‘F**!’ That’s probably the second wave I’ve ever claimed.”

It was a one-and-done situation. “I was so content paddling back out to the lineup. But we ended up bailing 30 minutes later because we lost a wheel on the trailer that morning at the boat ramp—the whole wheel just came off the axle, and we needed to sort that out.”

“There was a little bit of cash for winning,” explained Kipp. “But that was kind of whatever. It’s just sick to be recognized by the local crew.”

Kipp laid out his plans for the future, “I’m definitely planning to put more time in at Jaws,” he says. “I’ve got some proper boards being made, and I’m keen to push myself further. Jaws is the pinnacle of paddling in big wave surfing. Nothing beats it—those photos and footage don’t do it justice. It’s like football fields of water just coming at you, filling up the whole bay. There’s nothing like it.”

Results

Best overall performer — Ty Simpson-Kane
Best tow — Kona Oliveira
Biggest tow – Shaun Walsh
Best paddle — Kipp Caddy
Biggest paddle (Male) – Willem Banks
Biggest paddle (Female) – Katie McConnell
MVP award and dedication to safety — Marcus Rodrigues