Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 25, Number 11, 1 November 2008 — Remembering Leighton Look [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Remembering Leighton Look

Next month, beloved waterman Leighton Look will be remembered the way he lived - with a eanoe surf contest that invites the island's best paddlers, surfers and water sports enthusiasts to eome together and enjoy Mākaha Surfing Beach. "Leighton would have loved this," said Mel Pu'u, who helps organize the Bradah Mel's Canoe Surfing and Stand-up Surfing Championships, planned for Dec. 6-7 or 13-14, depending on conditions. Pu'u recalls how in 2004, Look led a six-man crew from Hui Lanakila Canoe Club to win the master's division | of the Walter J. Macfarlane Revatta at Waikīkī Reaoh

after their wide lead all but vanished near the finish line. Look's instructions? " 'Catch the next bump. We just gotta do this.' " Pu'u said. "And we did. I ean still see Leighton, not saying anything, just smiling from ear to ear." Look, who helped to establish Hui Lanakila in 1977, died in August at the age of 52, four years after a diving aeei-

dent left hini paralyzed from the neek down. Proceeds from the fourth annual contest will continue to help Look's family pay for medical bills, whieh still remain. Donations of any kind, including cash and prizes, are weleome. Checks are payable to Hawai'i Amateur Surfing Association. To make an advance donation or for information, eall 478-9086. — liza Simon E3

Leighton Look and his three daughters in undated photo. - Photo: Courtesy ofMel Pu'u