20-year-old Billy Stairmand of Raglan is the new National Champion after defeating his more experienced opponents in the final of the Hyundai National Surfing Championships completed at Gisborne today (Sunday 4th April).  Stairmand was joined by another first time national champion Laura Rishworth of Mount Maunganui who won the Open Women’s Division.
The final day of surfing was held in perfect 1.0m waves at Makorori Beach.  Light winds and sunny skies had the length of the beach at capacity taking in amazing action from New Zealand’s best surfers.
Stairmand has won Export Gold Series events before on his home waves at Raglan but like every surfer in New Zealand the feat of winning a national title tops everything.
“Winning a national title has always been a dream of mine.  I have always looked up to Maz, Morehu and Ricardo and seen their names on the cup and then you actually win one yourself, to beat them is just amazing, it’s a dream come true” said Stairmand after the final.
Stairmand posted 16.67 out of a possible 20 points.  The remarkable thing is that he posted the scores within the first four minutes of the 30 minute final.  He caught the first right hander to post a 6.5, paddled back out and caught a left under his three opponents noses.  He then belted the lip of the wave through to the inside to post an excellent 9.0 point ride.
“Well I was lucky to get those first two waves, I hassled Morehu (Roberts) for the first wave and then paddled back out and got the next wave to push me way into the lead before anyone had even caught a wave.  It just happened like that” commented Stairmand.
The unexpected start to the final had his three Gisborne opponents Richard Christie, Maz Quinn and Morehu Roberts dumfounded.
However the experience of his opponents and the perfect playground of waves had everyone on edge.  Could Stairmand keep them at bay?
Quinn pushed his case posting a 5.93 before putting on his usual vertical backhand attack to post an 8.33 point ride bringing him right back into contention.  That was to be all Quinn could find though with the ocean not playing ball and allowing him the opportunity to give it one last crack.

Christie was in combination land requiring more than a perfect score to beat Stairmand.  He left his run too late but did surf to a 7.93 on his last wave completing a big air reverse.  The score was enough to edge out Quinn for second but did not challenge Stairmand’s lead.
Roberts placed fourth in his final unable to back up his victory at the most recent Export Gold Series event.  However the final berth was still an excellent result despite everything not going his way in the ultimate heat of the event.

Stairmand joins a long line of New Zealand champions that date back to 1963.  The prestige that comes with the cup is something that was by no means lost on Stairmand.  “I was checking out the trophy the whole time but I didn’t want to look too much and I didn’t want to touch it in case I jinxed myself.  Now I can check it out for the rest of the year.”
Laura Rishworth (Mnt) took out a closely fought Open Women’s final scoring 12.10 to beat her three young opponents.  The average age of the Open Women’s finalists was only 16 years but it was 20-year-old Rishworth that proved that with age comes some power and the big scores.

“It was good surfing with the younger girls and watching them step it up but I wanted to surf my best and make sure that the oldest surfer in the final won and I wanted to hold them off winning at such a young age” said Rishworth.
However the quietly spoken surfer did not have it her own way despite leading for much of the final and being the more powerful of the four finalists. 
“I saw Grace (Spiers) get that last one and she did a big first turn and then it walled up all the way down the beach.  I couldn’t get another wave and didn’t even know if I had won or not until the prize giving” said Rishworth.  The wave she was referring to was the highest scoring ride of the final – 7.60 out of ten scored by Spiers for three big backhand re-entries.  Despite the high score Spiers only had a 4.0 as her second scoring ride and had to settle for second.
Jayda Martin – Fitzharris (Gis) placed third in the final unable to repeat her performance from the Under 18 Girls Division scoring 10.33.  Ella Williams (WGM) a triple finalist at the event finished in fourth place.
Johnny Hicks (Gis) completed a celebrated junior career with a win in the Under 18 Boys Division in front of an ecstatic home town crowd.  Hicks’ finals performance was highlighted by a crazy 9.0 point ride that included a huge fins free air reverse.  He finished with a 15.50 point heat total compared to second placed Ben Poulter (Rag) on 14.53.  Poulter had one last shot at the victory but requiring an 8.7, he fell short scoring 7.70 in the last minute of the final.
Hawkes Bay surfer Tyler Lawson finished the final in third place after leading the final early scoring a 6.27 and 5.50 on his first two waves but could not match the hot pace late in the final.  Blake Myers (WGM) finished the final in fourth scoring 8.67.
Jayda Martin – Fitzharris (Gis) claimed Gisborne’s sixth title of the event when she posted 12.57 to win the final.  Martin – Fitzharris was stuck in second place for much of the final until one of her last waves she rode on her backhand scoring 6.73.  The score was enough to jump her into first place ahead of Grace Spiers (WGM).  Then Rosa Thompson had one last crack.  Thompson surfed to the highest single wave score of the final – 7.00 out of a possible 10 but it was not enough to take the title, Thompson finishing in second.  Spiers slipped back to third with Ella Williams (WGM) in fourth.
Ben Poulter (Rag) claimed his first ever national title in the Under 16 Boys after scoring a 12.73 heat total on his last two waves.  Poulter struggled at the start of the heat as he and the other opponents jostled for priority to the point of being out of position.  However the stoic young surfer fought his way back to the victory over Tane Wallis (Piha) who led the majority of the final.
Wallis who failed to find a good back up wave after scoring a 6.0 on his first wave of the final, finished in second place ahead of Patxi Scott – Arrieta (Sandy Bay) in third and Adam Grimson (Gis) in fourth.
Young Opunake surfer Royden Stewart claimed the Kneeboard Division over his senior counterparts.  Stewart has continued to rise through the ranks of the Kneeboard fraternity and today he finally reached the pinnacle scoring 9.73 in the final for victory.
The Hyundai National Championships is the fourth of five events on the 2009/10 Export Gold Series with the final event, the Export Gold Super 16 taking place at Piha on the 23-24 April.
Please see below for final results from the Hyundai National Surfing Championships – event four of the Export Gold Series.
Open Men’s Final
Billy Stairmand (Rag), 1, Richard Christie (Gis), 2, Maz Quinn (Gis), 3, Morehu Roberts (Gis), 4

Billy Stairmand and Rangi (Gauranga) Ormond recently returned from what has become a regular winter jaunt to Indo. We spent time down at Lakeys with them shooting The Peak, Perescopes and a couple of other breaks.
Both these boys absolutely shred and we're stoked to be running this exclusive insight into  their thoughts on the trip, the waves and a few other things that happened.

Name:  Gauranga Das George Ormond             Age: 21
Number of Indo trips: 4

Places in Indo I've been to and surfed - Keramas, Changgu, Balian, Bukit, Lombok, Sumbawa.



The best waves I had in Indo were... Lakey Peak rights on the last day.
It was so fun because...It was only me and Billy out and was just fun onshore ramps Billy was going mad, big air reverse mute grabs and all sorts of really cool punts he was mixing it up well. Also on my last wave I landed my first proper passion pop and Billy saw it so we were frothing.

Rangi: Lakeys Photo Craig Sheriff  You can spot Craig above and right taking shots like this! Some might think he's hogging the foreground but he's actually working!

I tried to travel cheap around Indo cos I have to budget pretty hard where ever I go so Indo is no different and when you go there you usually go for around a month or longer, that is a long time to stretch out a limited budget so you get fairly thrifty.


Some of the funniest things that happened in Indo were... Me and Leon took a local indo bus back from scars to Lakey Peak. We were the only two westerners on the whole bus along with a whole bunch of chickens, fish and Indos who spoke no English what so ever. The lack of air conditioning and midday heat made it pretty hot so the obviously thing to do was not wear a t shirt.....well it didn’t go down very well with the locals and for about an hour they were trying their best to tell us this, after much pigeon English and sign/body language we finally got the idea and spent the remaining 7 hours on the bus bathing in our own sweat. On one of our many unexplainable stops we ended up being treated to a traditional parade down the main drag of a very small and dusty town. It was a pretty cool to see, everyone was dressed in bright clothing and they were all following a mobile karaoke truck decked out with some solid speakers. That bus ride ended up being one of the most unexpected highlights of my whole trip.

To get to Indo this year I... Done a lot of kissing ass.... nah I worked in summer doing the comps and shooting photos.


I took four boards and the only one I snapped was Leon’s one that I borrowed for surfing scars, I snapped it on my first wave and had to sit in the channel for pretty much the rest of the surf until Cederman was kind enough to give me a couple of waves on his boat.

Stay'n at Lakey's was really cool cos I got to hang out with Billy and Leon, they are really cool to travel with.

We ate and drank mostly at Fatima’s we ate there pretty much every dinner and most lunches.

My favourite meal was the mushroom pizza it was just vego and pretty large.

Sick in Indo 
I got so sick towards the end of my trip I went to Lombok with Hambo, some of his mates from the mount and the RPM guys to shoot photos but ended up in bed the whole time. It was probably the weakest and the closest to death I have ever felt I didn’t really leave the hotel room or eat for a week. It was miserable and I felt the after effects of weakness and fatigue for a few weeks after.

Leon Santorick was cool to surf and stay with cos he’s always so amped like a little kid he gets so excited to surf, play backgammon, go on a scooter mission or do anything really. He knows how to make the most of any situation and is cool to hang out with.




I've been to indo 3 times and am gonna every single year from now on.
Places in Indo I've been to and surfed are Bali and surfed  Chunggu, Kuta beach, Bingin, Uluwatu, Sanur and Keramas. have also been to Sumbawa and surfed Lakey Peak and all the spots around there.

The best waves I had in Indo were definitely Lakeys so far but would like to go to other places and check some new waves out.
it was so good cos... its the easiest and funnest wave to surf and when it gets bigger its even better and there are less people out - perfect!!!
I tried to travel cheap around Indo cos I don't need to try travel cheap. Its all cheap over there

Some of the funniest things that happened in Indo were Rangi Ormands d-floor moves they are epic.
To get to Indo this year I  well luckily enough I have really good sponsors that look after me really well and I also one some $ in the Rip Curl comp so that was handy.

 I took 3 boards and came home with 1 sweet one, 1 bashed and brused one and a snapped one. So i came home with a bit of everything.

Stay'n at Lakeys was really cool cos... it is cheap and the waves are right on your front door step and it is away form Kuta.

We ate and drank mostly  in Lakeys we ate at Fatmahs. They have the meanest feeds.

My favourite meal was chicken spaghetti. yum yum

I didnt get sick which is lucky. haven't been sick there yet but touch wood.
Leon Santorick was cool to surf and stay with cos...oh I dont know about cool but he is allright. haha na. He is funny and knows alot about Bali and he also charges and is good to surf with him cos he pushes you to your potential. Cheers Leon.