What needs to happen for the World Surf League Championship Tour return to Raglan next year

Saturday, 23 May 2026

A week of small swell has done little to diminish the chances of the world’s premier surfers returning to compete in Raglan next year and beyond.

Actually, in an ironic kind of way, the run of lay days at the historic New Zealand Pro could have even strengthened the case for the western Waikato town, as officials now weigh up the merits of it maintaining its place on the World Surf League Championship Tour calendar.

In what is the most prestigious surfing event ever to be held in this country, the on-water action has come to a halt since early Monday morning, but the arrival of bigger waves is set to have things back underway, and probably finishing, this weekend, on the ninth and 10th days of the 11-day competition window.

From a local economic point of view, with the town humming, accommodation chocka, and bars and eateries doing record trades, having the event stretch over two weekends has in fact been the dream scenario.

And that surfing down-time, too, in what have been consistently-stunning late-autumn sunny days, has also allowed the athletes to get out and explore the wider region, posting plenty of postcard-worthy pics to what, for many of them, is a massive social media following and essentially amounts to a free global advert showcasing more hidden gems of New Zealand.

Throw in the fact Manu Bay’s famed left-hand break offers a nice variation from the right-hand dominance on the 12-stop tour (Fiji, Tahiti and Hawaiʻi are the others, albeit big-barrelling waves and not the high-performance style of Raglan), to have the goofy-footers frothing, and that the WSL have been impressed with how smooth a logistical operation its been in Raglan, especially given its call-up at short notice.

That came about in late January when South Africa’s Jeffreys Bay was pulled from the schedule (which had been announced in late July) due to a lack of financial support from their government.

Instead, up quickly stepped the New Zealand government, all thanks to their $40 million Events Attraction Package, which was announced by Tourism and Hospitality Minister Louise Upston in September last year.

Designed to bring high-value international events to the country, attract visitors, stimulate the economy and grow New Zealand’s profile as a future host, those funds had also gone towards securing the likes of Robbie Williams and Linkin Park concerts, the All Whites’ pre-World Cup Fifa Series, Auckland FC’s clash against Tottenham Hotspur, and a landmark State of Origin game next year.

Much will now depend on whether that same pool of money can be utilised again. Because, every indication from Andrew Stark, president WSL, APAC (Asia-Pacific), is that there’s most certainly an appetite to be back on these shores next year, after what he already labelled an “incredibly successful” event.

That is despite having less than a four-month period to sort things like resource consent, traffic management, liquor licensing and community consultation. A longer lead-in would smooth that process, and also likely allow a bigger crowd than the capacity 6500 hit last Sunday, Stark said.

“There’s certainly overwhelming positive feedback from all the sectors and stakeholders,” he told the Waikato Times.

“When you stand down there and see the hordes of people coming down, crowds of people with happy faces, and local business thriving, it’s been a huge boost for New Zealand surfing.”

In a statement to the Waikato Times, Upston, who has attended the event first-hand, noted she had been “really impressed” by what she had seen, praising “the professionalism of the organisers to deliver a great event”, as well as the role fans, the local community and council had all played.

“There will be a full review at the conclusion of this and the other major events we’re supporting in 2026 via the Events Attraction Package,” she said.

“In terms of looking forward, we would be open to working with the World Surf League on exploring opportunities.

“As with all funding, there are clear processes and criteria which events must meet to be considered.”

Stark has spent time with both Upston and Minister for Sport and Recreation, Mark Mitchell, during the competition, and felt positive vibes from both around the potential of locking back in.

“I’ve spoken to both of them at length about the real opportunity to try and bring this event back next year,” he said.

“We’ve had some really healthy, productive discussions with them, and I think they’re very pleased.”

After this year switching the calendar for the tour to begin in Australia (three events), Stark confirmed that would again be the case in 2027, and acknowledged that then does bode well for the small town on this side of the ditch to again follow straight after.

“It certainly does work well. May is prime-time for that wave in Raglan, but also one of the quietest months of the year, after the Easter school holidays period and heading into winter.”

Even when that wave has been rather lacking of late, though?

“We’re used to dealing with Mother Nature, we had a pretty rough forecast at Bells Beach [Victoria] this year, and Margaret River [Western Australia],” an unconcerned Stark said, pointing to the fickle nature of the game with how good conditions were on competition-eve last Thursday.

“That day was absolutely pumping, that afternoon there was some six-foot sets coming in. And even the days before that was really good surf.

“The surfers know how good it can get… and they are all saying they absolutely love New Zealand, most of them have never been here, and that they’ll be back, and how have we not been here before, this place is incredible.”