It was a three-4peat for Raglan’s Billy Stairmand today (Sunday 14th April) after blowing away a strong field of domestic surfers at the Rip Curl Pro presented by Corona held at Manu Bay, Raglan.
Stairmand was joined by Mount Maunganui surfer Raiha Ensor who claimed the Open Women’s Division. Both surfers now lead the New Zealand Surf Series rankings after three of seven events this year.
Stairmand looked unstoppable all weekend and his relentless performances continued into the final as he went on to post a 16.44 point heat total out of a possible 20 points, easily defeating fellow local Luke Cederman in the same one-two scenario as the 2018 event.
“Yeah, I mean I keep saying it but my equipment is so good at the moment and it just makes me comfortable when competing” exclaimed Stairmand.
“I wanted to put on a show out there because there are heaps of people watching today and also live on Sky Sport” he added.
Stairmand held half of the top ten single-wave scores of the weekend showing his dominance but he was also quick to mention his strategic approach to his heats.
“I probably could have got better waves in the final but I was surfing strategically, particularly in that heat and that is all I wanted to do, everyone surfs a heat differently and I just wanted to stick to my game plan.”
Stairmand now eyes up two international events in Indonesia and Australia as he hunts down more World Surf League qualification points.
“I really want to try and get on tour with Ric (Christie) and Paige (Hareb) and also aim for the Olympics next year.”
SNZ
All images on this page thanks to Ken Hansen
Open Men’s Division Final
Billy Stairmand (Rag), 16.44, 1, Luke Cederman (Rag), 13.9, 2, Daniel Farr (Tara), 12.83, 3, Luke Hughes (Rag), 12.53, 4
Open Women’s Division Final
Raiha Ensor (Mnt), 13.9, 1, Saffi Vette (Gis), 13.47, 2, Ella Williams (Whmata), 12.3, 3, Jessica Santorik (Rag), 11.03, 4
