Billy Stairmand – World Surf League

From the long left-hand point breaks of Raglan to competing against the world's best surfers, Billy Stairmand's story is one of persistence, sacrifice, and representing New Zealand on the global stage.

Born and raised in Raglan, Billy learned to surf from his father at around 10 years old and began competing as a teenager. By 13, he had already attracted major sponsorship and was chasing the dream of becoming New Zealand's next world-class surfer.

His breakthrough came on the World Surf League qualifying circuit, where he earned international wins and famously defeated 11-time world champion Kelly Slater in 2011. Yet the road to the top was anything but easy. There were years of financial struggles, working regular jobs to fund competition travel, losing sponsors, and even questioning whether the dream was still possible.

Rather than giving up, Billy rebuilt his career. He won multiple New Zealand national titles, eventually becoming one of the country's most decorated surfers, while continuing to chase qualification through the WSL system.

One of his biggest achievements came in 2019 when he qualified for surfing's Olympic debut, becoming New Zealand's first male Olympic surfer at the Tokyo Games. He later qualified again for Paris, cementing his status as one of New Zealand's greatest competitive surfers.

In 2026, after more than a decade on the qualifying circuit, Billy finally competed in a World Surf League Championship Tour event as a wildcard at his home break of Manu Bay when the CT arrived in Raglan. It was the first time he had surfed at the sport's highest level in front of a hometown crowd. A fitting milestone in a career built on perseverance.

This one was pretty close to my heart as I used to live in Raglan, and being there during the first-ever WSL in NZ was a truly awesome moment.