{"id":428727,"date":"2026-05-15T09:24:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T09:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/428727\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T09:24:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T09:24:14","slug":"super-stoked-raglan-welcomes-worlds-best-for-surf-comp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/428727\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Super stoked’: Raglan welcomes world’s best for surf comp"},"content":{"rendered":"

The sun has risen on Manu Bay as the world’s best surfers take on the Raglan swell. <\/p>\n

For the next 11 days the best of the best will compete in the fourth stop of the World Surf League Championship Tour.<\/p>\n

It marks the first time New Zealand has hosted a combined men’s and women’s Championship Tour event, and it’s expected to draw thousands of spectators to the Waikato town.<\/p>\n

Local coffee business Raglan Roast is excited to see all the fresh faces and revenue this event will bring, said Esther Keown.<\/p>\n

“To have this many people come to Raglan, all the people that are going to be spending money, having a good time, will help local businesses, local people who are putting their houses up for people to stay.”<\/p>\n

\"Raglan<\/p>\n

Raglan Roast is gearing up for a busy next couple of days. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

She was expecting to be kept busy serving thousands of coffees a day. <\/p>\n

Some of New Zealand’s finest will be taking on Manu Bay’s famous left-hand breaks, including two-time Olympian Billy Stairmand and Raglan’s own 15-year-old Alani Morse. Morse won a wildcard spot in the competition and said she’s proud to be representing New Zealand in her own backyard.<\/p>\n

“I’m just thrilled to be here, this is such a cool opportunity. I’m just soaking it all in, and learning as I go.”<\/p>\n

She said sitting out on the water next to world number ones has been inspiring and seeing the impact on her community had been great.<\/p>\n

“Our family’s just super stoked, I’m super stoked, the communities stoked, we’re all just so excited.” <\/p>\n

\"Wildcard<\/p>\n

Wildcard competitor Alani Morse (left). (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Local surf instructor Pipiri Kelly has been surfing at Manu Bay his whole life and he’s excited to see how the best tackle it.<\/p>\n

“It’s very inspiring to see the world’s best perform at your home break. It’s very inspiring to see the lines they take and what they’re actually able to do.”<\/p>\n

The event is supported by the Government’s Events Attraction Package. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The sun has risen on Manu Bay as the world’s best surfers take on the Raglan swell. For…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":428728,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[9001,111,43,139,69,2558],"class_list":["post-428727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-hamilton-waikato","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-surfing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428727","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=428727"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428727\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/428728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=428727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=428727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=428727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}