Latest news with #SurfingWalkofFame
Los Angeles Times
4 days ago
- Los Angeles Times
Grandson of SoCal surfing legend dies after e-bike accident
The grandson of a celebrated Southern California surfboard builder died this week after being critically injured in an e-bike accident. Huntington Beach resident Kolby Aipa, 20, died Tuesday. A spokesman for the city Police Department, Corbin Carson, said that Aipa was being towed by a car full of friends on Pacific Coast Highway on Saturday night when he lost control of his e-bike and was struck by the same car that had been towing him. Aipa is the grandson of Ben Aipa, a member of the Surfing Walk of Fame and Surfers' Hall of Fame who died in 2021 at the age of 78. Ben Aipa was a competitive surfer who became famous for shaping boards, inventing the surfboard swallow tail and adding the 'sting,' a wing along the rail ahead of the tail, to make the board go faster. Kolby Aipa had been on life support, but the family, which owns the Orange County company Aipa Surf, posted on social media Tuesday afternoon that he had died of his injuries. 'We are completely heartbroken,' read the statement posted to Aipa Surf. 'We wanted to thank all the visitors, supporters, food deliveries, donations, flowers, cards, countless stories and photos his friends have shared with us, Drs and nurses that have taken care of our sweet boy. The H.B. community and everyone around the world have touched our hearts in an unimaginable way. 'Thank you for loving our boy. Kolby always had a way with touching the lives of whoever he met. His acts of kindness and caring was his gift of Aloha to friends and strangers alike. To everyone that reads this ... pass his Aloha on. So, how Kolby treated you, treat others in that same way ...In this you are continuing his legacy of Aloha. And you too can be like Kolby. Remember him and tell the world that #iamkolby.' The accident occurred at 10:08 p.m. Saturday night, near the intersection of Seapoint Street and Pacific Coast Highway, Carson said. Aipa, critically injured, was taken to UCI Medical Center. There have been no arrests but the investigation is ongoing, Carson said. Police closed Pacific Coast Highway in both directions late Saturday night due to what they termed a 'major traffic collision investigation.' Northbound lanes were closed at Seapoint Street, with southbound lanes closed at Warner Avenue. A GoFundMe to support the Aipa family was set up by the Pai family, owners of Huntington Surf and Sport. As of Tuesday evening it had raised more than $61,000. Aipa Surf is a surf apparel, surfboards and accessories company. Ben Aipa founded the brand in 1970.
Los Angeles Times
31-07-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Huntington Beach's Ryan Turner, Nea Post inducted into Surfing Walk of Fame as U.S. Open resumes
Ryan Turner said he was raised on Main Street, and that's not too far from the truth. He and his younger brother Timmy would run down the street from the family-owned Sugar Shack Cafe, cross Pacific Coast Highway and head to the ocean. 'This is all I've done my whole childhood, me and my brother running down to the beach and seeing all of the older guys, then finally getting in with everyone and surfing,' Turner said. 'Now it's crazy, it's a full circle with my kids surfing all day. My parents were working all day, and that's what we do. I love this community in Huntington Beach. It supports each other; it's just a rad place.' Turner, the former Huntington Beach High surf team captain, is now immortalized with his own commemorative stone on the sidewalk he used to roam. He was inducted as a Local Hero during the annual Surfing Walk of Fame ceremony Thursday morning in front of Jack's Surfboards. Turner, whose daughter Bailey, 16, is a rising talent in the junior surfing world, had his son Ryder, 14, read his induction speech. Timmy Turner was inducted into the Surfing Walk of Fame in 2016. 'Timmy, he's out there waxing his [stone] every day,' Ryan Turner said with a laugh after the ceremony. 'This is such a huge honor to be up there with these people. There's so many people above me, well deserving, and I'm just so appreciative of it. It's pretty awesome. I can't believe my name is in the sidewalk. My kids are stoked.' Nea Post was another local inducted, as the Woman of the Year. Post graduated from Huntington Beach High School and ended up going to Golden West College and UC Irvine, all the while winning multiple junior competitions and being selected to the U.S. National Team twice, competing alongside Kelly Slater in Japan. Post, now married with two children, still lives in Huntington Beach. She told stories of her time on the team with Slater, only to discover that Slater himself was in attendance at Thursday's ceremony, smiling to her left. 'I stayed committed to my schoolwork, and I'm thankful to be a physician today,' Post said. 'It's a privilege, it's a responsibility that I don't take lightly ... As I think back to [Peter 'P.T.' Townend] as the co-founder of the [National Scholastic Surfing Assn.] and what Andy Verdone has done with the high school surf team, and what I embrace as a pediatrician, it is all about the kids. 'I read a recent statistic that although children comprise 22% of the population, they're 100% of the future.' Barry Kanaiaupuni was inducted as Surf Pioneer, with Al Merrick named the Surf Culture inductee. The late Dale Dobson was inducted as Surf Champion, and Greg Wade was the Honor Role inductee. Townend served as the event emcee. San Clemente's Kai Finn was also recognized as the MacAllister Award winner, receiving a scholarship for $4,000 for his service to the community. The action was busy in the water Thursday after the first day of competition was called off Wednesday due to poor conditions. Eight heats were completed in the men's round of 80, with Kauli Vaast of France among the surfers to move on. Vaast was the gold medal winner at the Paris Olympics last summer, the French Polynesian earning the gold medal at home. He called the conditions Thursday 'small, and not a lot of power on the wave,' but he was able to earn a two-wave score of 8.53 to advance. 'It is what it is,' Vaast said, adding that the cancellation Wednesday didn't really faze him. 'You try to keep the same mentality, keep the same focus from the waiting period until the end of the contest.' Kolohe Andino of San Clemente was also able to advance to the round of 64. The 2020 Olympian's score of 12.00 counted as the third-best score of the round, only bested by Adur Amatriain of Basque Country (13.33) and Shohei Kato of Japan (12.03). The round of 64 is slated to begin first thing Friday, with Nolan Rapoza of Long Beach in the opening heat. Kanoa Igarashi of Huntington Beach, a two-time U.S. Open winner, is in Heat 8 of 16. In the women's competition, the Round of 48 was completed Thursday. Birthday girl Eden Walla of San Clemente, who turned 16 on Thursday, was in a good mood after placing second in her heat to advance. Walla, a wild card into the event, is competing in her first U.S. Open. She said she enjoys the short trip up the coast to Huntington Beach, where she's been surfing in contests since she was 9. 'It could be either really good or really bad,' she said of surfing on her birthday. 'But I made it, so I'm going to be thankful for that, for sure ... I feel like I've been surfing good [this year]. I had a rough end of the year, I didn't end it how I wanted to on the [World Surf League Qualifying Series], but I feel like that really motivated me to get better and work harder.' Sierra Kerr of Australia (12.77) and Amuro Tsuzuki of Japan (12.17) threw down big scores to advance to the women's round of 32 on Friday.
