April 21st 2026: Wildcard

A big surfing event went down at Manu Bay this past weekend as the Backdoor King & Queen of the Point stepped right up with two wildcards on offer for the WSL Raglan Pro scheduled for May 15-25. 

With that chance to compete against the world's best at stake, the King & Queen saw the biggest turnout ever for a field of surfers in a New Zealand contest. Everyone fancied themselves as a WSL star, and why shouldn't they have? 

Olympian Billy Stairmand got a wildcard early, so he was out of the picture, but 144 other surfers were chasing the golden ticket. Unfortunately, the weather gods threw an unseasonal wobbly with a dreadful set of conditions for the five days of the contest. But even with the devil wind doing its best to ruin the show, the surfing was incredible. 

By finals day, the fields were whittled right down, and some big names were cast aside. Taranaki's Tom Butland started slow, and the powerhouse surfer bided his time before clinching the win from Piha's Elliot Paerata-Reid in the dying moments. It was a popular win for the 24-year-old who has been recovering from a string of injuries after chasing and documenting waves around the world these past few years. 

In the women's, the sure favourite, Paige Hareb, also from Taranaki, looked to have the final under control, but the youngest surfer in the water had other ideas. Fifteen-year-old Alani Morse kept a cool head as she sat in last place at her local break. With a minute to go, an unpanicked Alani stroked into a smaller inside wave that stood right up for her as it rounded the boulders at Manu Bay. It was a canvas for her to make her own, and she did, taking the win and booking her ticket to the big league of the WSL Championship Tour. 

The WSL Raglan Pro is stop number 4 on the World Championship Tour and takes place May 15-25. The best surfers in the world will be in attendance. It's going to be huge for Raglan, but career-defining for Billy, Tom and Alani. We wish them all the best.

See you at the beach, Derek

PS Had an eye on one of our framed prints? We're bringing back our popular "free local hanging" for Dunedin customers throughout winter. All you need to do is buy a framed limited edition artwork from us between now and the end of winter, and we'll hang it for free. If you live outside of Dunedin, we can still look at options to help you get that new artwork on your wall. Here's a great place to start.