Kiwi trio suffer first-round defeats at Raglan World Surf League Championship Tour event

Friday, 15 May 2026

Kiwi teenager Alani Morse skipped school to make an unforgettable World Surf League Championship Tour debut in her Raglan hometown.

Their competition hopes were over quickly, but the memories will be long-lasting, for the New Zealand trio at the historic World Surf League Championship Tour event in Raglan.

There was to be no fairytale for local legend Billy Stairmand, local schoolgirl Alani Morse or Taranaki’s Tom Butland, after the three Kiwi wildcard entries all tasted round-one defeats to their more-fancied opponents on the opening day of the New Zealand Pro on Friday.

In what is the biggest surfing event the country has ever staged, the Waikato weather turned it on with a splendid sunrise, and the swells came to the party, too, with organisers duly opting to cash in on conditions at their first opportunity in the 11-day competition window, scheduling overlapping 44-minute heats on the famed left-hand break at Manu Bay.

Starting with the women’s first round, to find the eight who would join the top eight already seeded through to the second round, Morse was last-up, against Bettylou Sakura Johnson.

And the world No 12 from Hawaii duly showed her class, taking just three waves to net a score of 14.16 (surfers’ top two scores [out of 10] are counted), with Morse, who earned her place on the big stage after winning the local qualifying event last month, catching five waves in logging 8.30.

It meant, in this season’s change of format which sees cut-throat elimination head-to-heads from the get-go, that Morse’s dash was done and dusted before afternoon even hit.

Kiwi teenager Alani Morse, pictured at Thursday’s practice session, has a massive future in the sport.

But, it took nothing away from the overall experience. To think that this was a 15-year-old skipping school (her family moved from Auckland five years ago to allow her to enrol in the Raglan Area School’s Surf Academy), and then sharing the water with the world’s top talent, including the best female of all-time in Australian Stephanie Gilmore, who was alongside her in the water competing in the heat before hers

“Oh, it was such an honour, to share a lineup with those girls, I couldn’t think of anything more special, honestly,” Morse told the host broadcaster soon after her pinch-me moment.

“To represent this Kiwi flag, with pride, it’s so special for me, and I love this sport, so I’m just super excited to be here, and what an opportunity.

“My heart is so full, this community’s incredible, and the support is amazing, from both Raglan and New Zealand, and I can’t even explain how that support has been to me.

“On the beach everyone’s cheering, and I felt like they were out there with me, and I just think that’s the best thing in the world, and probably one of the best experiences I’ve had in my life.”

Gilmore, the eight-time world champion, who has returned to the tour this season after a two-year hiatus and is coming off victory in the last event on the Gold Coast, duly made it through to the second round, as did fellow star Carissa Moore, the five-time world champ, who is also back after stepping away in 2024 to start a family, and who logged the score of the day with 16.34.

Billy Stairmand has been surfing the waves at Manu Bay for his entire life, and Friday’s rides were extra special on the big stage.

On the men’s side of the equation, four first-round heats were needed to find who would join the 28 already seeded into round two, and it was Butland who was first-up, against South African No 32 Luke Thompson.

The 24-year-old from Taranaki, had, like Morse, won wildcard honours last month, and gave a decent account of himself, but just couldn’t succeed in the game of catch-up, with Thompson’s 12.50 coming from his second and third of his seven waves, and the Kiwi getting on some 11 rides, though not always finishing them, and unable to suitably impress the judges for the big score he needed, ending with 10.10.

That left Stairmand as the remaining New Zealand hope. The 36-year-old two-time Olympian was always going to be the best local shot, given he qualified by being the only Kiwi on the Challenger Series, and indeed has been surfing these very waves, since he first stood up on a board.

Up against No 29 Morgan Cibilic, the pair put on one of the heats of the day. But, after the Australian started strong in recording a 7.50 first wave, and a 7.00 two waves later, Stairmand, with his typically strong backhands in action, was left needing an 8.00 from the judges to add to his 6.50, but in the end had to settle for a total score of 12.97 to Cibilic’s 14.50.

“Obviously I’ve travelled a lot with Morgs over the years and I know he’s got a feisty backhand and he’d been looking good in the free surfs and warm-ups,” a disappointed, but proud, Stairmand told the host broadcast.

“I had super-fun out there, obviously I really wanted to do well in this event and I believed I could, but unfortunately mother nature didn’t really play ball at the end there.”

Stairmand said he will now turn his attention to helping Australian reigning world champ Molly Picklum, and lap up the rest of what this event on his back doorstep has to offer.

“I just want to have a fun week now. The pressure’s done, all the work’s done, I achieved everything I ever wanted in surfing.

“I’m so stoked that Whāingaroa and Raglan can welcome everyone with open arms, and it’s super-inspiring for the kids… hopefully they can learn from it and become world champs one day.”