Raglan's Maya Mateja and Billy Stairmand with the spoils of surfing war after winning the open titles at the national championships in Gisborne on Saturday. Photo / PhotoCPL
Raglan's Maya Mateja and Billy Stairmand with the spoils of surfing war after winning the open titles at the national championships in Gisborne on Saturday. Photo / PhotoCPL
Olympian Billy Stairmand heads to Hawaii this week as New Zealand’s men’s open champion for the ninth time after saving his best to last at the National Surfing Championships in Gisborne.
The 36-year-old completed an open double for the Raglan Point Boardriders Club after 17-year-old Maya Mateja won the openwomen’s final at Makorori Beach on Saturday.
Stairmand, who represented New Zealand at the Tokyo and Paris Olympics, added the 2026 crown to victories in 2010, 2012, 2014-2017, 2019 and 2021.
Billy Stairmand is "chaired" across the Makorori Beach sand following his victory in the open men's final of the national surfing championships. It was his ninth open crown in 16 years.
It was his third open title at a nationals held in Gisborne and added to his achievement as the most prolific open men’s title winner in the 53-year history of the champs.
Under moody skies and unruly 1.5m waves, Stairmand faced the largest field of surfers in the past two decades and admitted battling to find his feet over the seven-day event hosted by Gisborne Boardriders Club and presented by Trust Tairāwhiti.
“I had a couple of scrappy heats this week,” Stairmand said on Saturday. “It was small most of the week, but contestable, and I just couldn’t find my rhythm. I actually changed up my boards today, too, which was good, and I saved my best performance until last.”
That best was an excellent 17.84 total out of 20, heading off reigning champion Alexis Owen (South Coast-Dunedin) on 14.84, Daniel Farr (New Plymouth Surfriders) 14.26 and Cooper Roberts (Bay Boardriders-Mt Maunganui) 12.07.
“I started with that left-hander and got an 8.67, then I got a right that allowed three good turns and I thought it was better,” he said of his second scoring ride – a 9.17.
“My ninth title feels real good. Stoked on the win going into Hawaii.”
Stairmand departs for Hawaii on Tuesday for the second-last World Surf League Challenger Series event.
Earlier on Saturday, Gisborne’s bid for open men’s glory came to an end when Johnny Hicks (East Coast Surfriders) finished third in his semifinal with a score of 12.34, just 0.39 of a point behind second-placed Farr - the top two advancing to the final.
Hicks, the under-18 champion when Stairmand won his first open crown, won his quarter-final with 15.83. Jay Quinn (14.97), of East Coast Surfriders, was third and knocked out in his quarter in which only 1.3 points separated the four competitors.
Maya Mateja came out top of a hotly contested open women's final at the national surfing champs - only 0.67 of a point separated the four finalists. Photo / PhotoCPL
The open women’s final was a similar edge-of-the-seat match-up with 0.67 points separating first from fourth and the lead swinging several times over the 25 minutes.
Mateja grabbed the win late and on her last scoring ride of 5.73 to post 12.80 and add the 2026 honours to her 2024 title.
“I feel so happy and blessed, super-grateful to be here with my family and enjoy the event and get the win this week,” she said. “Really hard conditions today. I didn’t know what was going on out there because I couldn’t hear the scores coming out. The other girls were surfing good, so I knew I had to concentrate on getting more good waves for the win and when I came into the beach I found out that I did enough.”
Teenager Maya Mateja, of Raglan's Point Boardriders Club, won her second open women's title at the surfing nationals which ended at Gisborne's Makorori Beach on Saturday.
Ariana Walker (Bay Boardriders) was second on 12.47, Leia Miller (Keyhole Boardriders-Phia) was third on 12.47 (Walker beat Miller on countback due to her best single wave score being higher) and Alani Morse (Point Boardriders) was fourth on 12.13.
Owen won the U18 boys’ title with a 16.24 score; Poppy Entwisle (Oakura Boardriders-New Plymouth) won the U18 girls’ with 12.70; Vitor Bauerman (Bay Boardriders) won the U16 boys’ with 15.64; and Lola Groube (Whangamatā) won the U16 girls’ with 13.90.
Bonnie Lynch (East Coast Surfriders) was fourth and eliminated in her U18 girls’ semi-final.
Jaxon Willows (Bay Boardriders) and Izaro Williamson Sasia (New Plymouth Surfriders) won the Peter Byers Most Outstanding Performance Award after completing respective title doubles (open and U18) in the longboard divisions.
Just under 400 entries across 28 divisions were received for the nationals which featured competition across shortboard, longboard, stand-up paddleboard, kneeboard, bodyboard and adaptive disciplines, with divisions spanning from U14 to over-70s.
