Billy Stairmand, 2012 Open Men's National Champion!
Billy Stairmand has stormed to his second victory claiming national title after a near flawless performance in the final of the Open Men’s Division at the 2012 Hyundai National Surfing Championships held at Piha Beach, Auckland riding his Custom Hughes Sufboards EPS Futurelite Gherkin2.
Stairmand surfed to a 17.10 point heat total using his impeccable backhand surfing on the lefthanders of Piha Bar.
The young 22 year old surfer is ranked 79th in the world and New Zealand’s third highest ranked surfer internationally. He is one of but a few in the world that managed to claim a victory over 11 times world champion Kelly Slater in 2011.
Today Stairmand notched up several excellent scores in quick succession in the final, his two highest, 8.90 and 8.20 point rides.
He won his first national title in 2010 at Gisborne in a similar fashion after getting a massive lead on his opponents and never relenting.
“It is good to start the year winning a national title, I am going overseas soon so it is good for my confidence and everything like that but yeah, at the moment, a national title, I can’t believe it at the moment” said Stairmand.
Despite the ease of the win, Stairmand remained focused on what he was doing and keeping to a game plan. “Every heat is hard, I just wanted to catch the best waves out there, I saw some on the bar and wanted to get them and it paid off.”
It was a big decision for Stairmand to surf up the beach. He and fellow finalist Chris Malone were the first surfers of the day to do so. However, with the outgoing tide and building swell, the strategy paid off handsomely.
“I had seen people getting one or two turns down the beach but I knew if I could get a runner on the bar it would be better than that. I started with a six and then it went from there. I was going wave for wave with Chris and I knew Timmy was down the beach but I was feeling confident after the first wave and yeah it all just happened.”
Placing second in the final, was Gisbornes Chris Malone, who like Billy, was also riding a Hughes Surfboards Gherkin.
The 35 year old Malone scored 9.5 out of 20 points requiring a combination of waves to challenge Stairmand for the win.
Despite the distance between himself and Stairmand he was still stoked to make the final. “It shows me that I have still got it and still can do it” said a more than happy Malone, who won the title himself in 1998.
“There was no way I was going down the end in those closeouts, I headed for the bar, looked around and Billy was following me. I suppose it was a good decision as the waves were peeling but Billy is world class and those waves were perfect for him” finished Malone.
Mischa Davis also kept her stellar form rolling from her win the weekend prior at the Hyundai Pro Longboard Event Raglan, with a runner up placing in the Open Women's division.
Davis led for over 20 minutes of the final, but came up short on the final hooter scoring 8.60, to take her second place finish.
Piha twins Bianca and Gabriella Sansom also impressed at their home break, with 'Gabby' wining the Under 16 Girls title, and also placing 4th in the U18 Girls division, while Bianca placed 3rd.
The next competition on the SNZ calendar see's the tour return to Whangamata for the Billabong Pro, scheduled to start Saturday 28th of January, followed by the O'neill Sequence Surf Shop Pro Gisborne on the 25th - 26th of February.
A full run down of the 2012 Surfing New Zealand National Championships can be viewed here http://www.surfingnz.co.nz/stairmand_simply_sublime.htm
