At La Jolla Shores, north of San Diego, in California, 2006 marked the 13th annual Moores UC San Diego Cancer Center Luau & Longboard Invitational. While 27 five-member teams competed for trophies, over 1,000 people attended and $300,000 dollars raised for the cancer center.
Each team was led by renowned surfers including Endless Summer Robert August, Mike Doyle, Rusty Preisendorfer, Skip Frye, Michael Hynson and Debbie Beacham. In the 13 years that the Luau & Longboard Invitational event has been held, $1.8 million has been raised for the Moores UC San Diego Cancer Center.
In addition to the surfing competitions, the attendees were treated to a luau of live music, Polynesian dancing, and an auction for a surfboard designed by tattoo artists from TLC channel television series Miami Ink. During the raffle, a 9-foot, 2-inch balsa longboard formed by Keith Melville was bought by Padres owner and philanthropist John Moores for $50,000 dollars. Last year the Lance Armstrong LIVESTRONG surfboard autographed by Armstrong went for $27,500 dollars. The theme of this year’s event was called Surf for the Cure.
Nine years ago, in 1998, the Luau and Longboard Invitational was dedicated to the memory of Rell Sunn, who passed away from breast cancer. Each year, during the event, the Rell Sunn-Queen of Makaha Award is given to honor the person or organization that best displays the qualities of compassion, unselfishness, aloha spirit and dedication in the fight against cancer.
