The Waikato coastal town has been chosen<\/a> to host the fourth stop on the WSL 2026 circuit, the New Zealand Pro, from 15-25 May.<\/p>\nIt will be the country’s first combined men’s and women’s WSL Championship Tour event.<\/p>\n
The world’s top 36 men and 24 women will compete, with New Zealand set to be allowed one man and one woman to enter as wildcards.<\/p>\n
Stairmand and Maya Mateja won the men’s and women’s national titles at Makorori Beach, north of Gisborne, a week ago, and while Stairmand would be a top chance of getting the men’s spot, Mateja’s eligibility for a Kiwi wildcard has to be established with the WSL, as she has competed under a Mexican flag.<\/p>\n
There will likely be trials before the wildcards are selected. Paige Hareb, Saffi Vette and Ella Williams are possible contenders for the women’s position, while Stairmand could face his toughest competition from Luke Cederwall, Daniel Farr and Alexis Owens on the men’s side.<\/p>\n
![\"Maya](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/4JUNFZ2_260117NZSurfingChamps_04_JPG.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
\nMaya Mateja (L) and Billy Stairmand celebrate their national championship surfing titles.
\nPhoto: photosport\n<\/p>\n
Stairmand, 36, a two-time Olympian, is a veteran these days but would love to represent New Zealand on his home surf.<\/p>\n
“It’s pretty exciting for me, because I was born and bred in Raglan and moulded my career there,” he told RNZ Sport.<\/p>\n
“I’m really trying to get into that contest myself and hopefully come up against those big dogs and give it to them in my backyard.<\/p>\n
“It’s very exciting for everyone in Raglan and the surfing community in New Zealand.”<\/p>\n
One of the attractions for Raglan for surfers is that it offers waves with a difference.<\/p>\n
“It is a long left-hand point break, and there’s not many waves like that on tour. It’s a very high-performance wave, with a lot of sections that you can play around with and mix up your manoeuvres,” Stairmand said.<\/p>\n
“If you’re in the water looking at the shore, the waves break to your left.<\/p>\n
“It just runs along a rock point break, comes off the mountain, Mount Karioi, there’s a few different point breaks, and it will looking good for that time of year.”<\/p>\n
![\"Billy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/4JUNNDW_260117NZSurfingChamps_07_JPG_1.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
\nBilly Stairmand at the 2026 New Zealand National Surfing Championships in Gisborne, New Zealand, 17 January 2026.
\nPhoto: Photosport\n<\/p>\n
Stairmand travelled to Hawaii after the national championships and will compete in a world tour challenger series event at Banzai Pipeline, starting on Friday.<\/p>\n
He said his competitive edge is still strong.<\/p>\n
“With my experience and confidence about being at home, it would be a cool opportunity to showcase some surfing and hopefully put a few heats together and have a bit of fun out there.”<\/p>\n
“I’m keen as to put my best foot forward. I’ll definitely be at home gunning for a spot into that contest.”<\/p>\n
Tourism and Hospitality Minister Louise Upston said the event would attract global attention.<\/p>\n
“This is an incredible opportunity for surfing in New Zealand. Fans will be able to watch the world’s most talented surfers get barrelled and compete, inspiring our budding young athletes and helping grow the sport in New Zealand,” she said.<\/p>\n
“The New Zealand Pro will also give a major tourism boost to the Waikato, with a lineup of competitors and spectators<\/p>\n
to the region and a global broadcast of the event, showcasing Raglan as a top surf destination internationally.”<\/p>\n
The event is being backed financially by the government’s Events Attraction Package, which aims to bring high-value international events to New Zealand.<\/p>\n
Sign up for Ng\u0101 Pitopito K\u014drero<\/a>, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Billy Stairmand shows his surfing style. Photo: PHOTOSPORT Nine-time New Zealand men’s surfing champion Billy Stairmand would love…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":251945,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,47,111,43,139,69,49,46,44,45],"class_list":{"0":"post-251944","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-audio","9":"tag-current-affairs","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz","14":"tag-podcasts","15":"tag-public-radio","16":"tag-radio-new-zealand","17":"tag-rnz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Raglan's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/4MGUNLC_210112_SNZNationalChamps_08_JPG.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n