North Shore NewsDerek Ho, who with his brother, Michael, his niece Coco, and nephew Mason represented a legendary North Shore surfing family, passed too young and too soon on July 17th at age 55.
Born and raised in Kailua, Derek mastered surf breaks on the windward side and in town before moving to the country and becoming an expert on North Shore surf lines. As, he said, “If you can handle Pipe, you can handle
anything.” Derek backed up that quote by becoming World Surfing Champ in 1993 (at age 29 the first native Hawaiian champion) and winning four Triple Crown of Surfing championships (’84, ’86, ’88 and ’90) while competing in twenty-four Triple Crown events and a two time champion in the Pipe Masters winning the world title in 1986. In 2019 Derek was honored in California’s Walk of Fame with a “Star” in Huntington Beach.
Aloha Derek. Gonna miss you in the lineup.