Brie Bennett (Rag) Image: NZ Surfing Magazine
For Immediate Release
21 July 2022
From: Surfing New Zealand
Sport: Surfing
Event: Backdoor King and Queen of the Point presented by Quiksilver
Dates: 22-24 July 2022
Divisions: Open Men and Women, Under 20 and 16 Boys and Girls Divisions
Location: Manu Bay, Raglan
Websites: Surfing New Zealand and Backdoor Surf Shop
King and Queen of the Point rounds out 2022 season
Top flight domestic surfing returns to Raglan this weekend with the Quiksilver King and Queen of the Point presented by Quiksilver taking place from tomorrow and concluding on Sunday (22-24 July).
The event has attracted our top talent including current WSL Challenger Series surfer and local favourite Billy Stairmand. Having recently returned from chasing the WQS and Challenger Series, Billy is looking for a win and to defend his title on home turf before returning to the Challenger Series and the Vans US Open of Surfing being held at Huntington Beach, California in August.
The event has also attracted 43 of New Zealand’s top Open Men’s surfers including National Champion Daniel Farr (Tara), Jay Quinn, Ricardo Christie(Gis), Luke Cederman (Rag), Jarred Hancox (Tara) and Zen Wallis (Piha).
The disrupted year that is 2022 means that this is the fourth and final event of the truncated New Zealand Surf Series. The National Championships were completed in Westport in January before the remainder of the season was disrupted leaving just the South Island Championships and the Exit Surf Men’s Canterbury Champs.
In the Open Women’s Division, top Kiwi females including defending champion Paige Hareb (Tara) and Gisborne’s Saffi Vette will remain overseas and unable to attend the King and Queen of the Point opening up the chance for fresh female talent to rise to the occasion.
Natasha Gouldsbury(Tara), Pia Rogers (WGM) and Skylar McFetridge (Tara) are all fresh off their ISA World Junior Championships tour to El Salvador and will be looking to use their experienced gained as they battle it out against a stacked division of Open women including Aimee Brown (Rag), Anna Brock(Mnt) and Elin Tawharu (Mnt).
The Under 20 Boys and Girls Divisions return in 2022 allowing those juniors coming to the end of their age group careers a chance at achieving further accolades. Achieving a third place in 2020 Kora Cooper will be looking to take the win in his backyard in 2022 whilst the 25 strong field of junior surfers including Jack Hinton (Mnt), Te Kauwhata Kauwhata, Jack Tyro (Chch), Jackson Peak (Auck) and Max De Groot (HBay) look to challenge him for the top spot. Tash Gouldsbury, Anna Brock and event favourite Brie Bennett (Rag) will do battle in the Under 20 Women with 18 females competing in the division.
In the Under 16 Boys and Girls, season long campaigns will go on the line again with the majority of the New Zealand Junior Surfing Team set to compete again in their home waters.
Skylar Mcfetridge (Tara), Pia Rogers (WGM), Kalani Louis (Tara), Spencer Rowson (Tara), Tao Mouldey (Mnt) and Jack Tyro (Chch) all head to Raglan for the winter event with conditions a stark contrast to 30-degree water and long right handers that they surfed in El Salvador. They will be up against a 40 strong field of surfers all looking to prove themselves against the New Zealand Junior Team members.
A new addition to the event is the MR Twin Fin Expression Session, a tribute to the man who revolutionised the surfing world. Between 1978 and 1982 Australian Mark Richards decided two fins were better than one designing testing and taking his two-fin design to the world stage where he then claimed four consecutive World Titles, changing the surfing world for ever.
With long winding lefts and a stacked field of competitors hungry for a win, the King and Queen of the Point pres by Backdoor and Quiksilver could be a weekend of big upsets in both the junior and premier divisions. One thing is for certain this weekend promises to end the 2022 Surf Series with a bang.
The forecast is looking good with a matured swell from the Tasman wind field. At this stage south winds and very clean surface conditions will be on offer for Friday with a head high WSW swell with bigger sets and plenty of energy in the water. On Saturday, we expect southerly quarter winds all day, a 14 second WSW swell and going into Sunday, a southwest 10 second swell with head high(ish) sets for the points when the King and Queen of the Point will be crowned.
The Backdoor King and Queen of the Point pres by Quiksilver is an SNZ3000 event and boasts $15,000 in prize money as the richest event of the year and with maximum national ranking points on offer.
Luke Cederman, Image: NZ Surfing Magazine
Please see below for previous winners of the event.
Open Men’s Division
2020 – Billy Stairmand (Rag)
2019 – Luke Cederman (Rag)
2018 – Luke Cederman (Rag)
Open Women’s Division
2020 – Paige Hareb (Tara)
2019 – Kai Woolf (Rag)
2018 – Aimee Brown (Grt Barrier)
2020 Open Men’s Division Final
Billy Stairmand (Rag), 16, 1, Taylor Hutchison (Rag), 13.4, 2, Dune Kennings (Piha), 12.16, 3, Shane Kraus (Piha), 10.37, 4
2020 Open Women’s Division Final
Paige Hareb (Tara), 14.8, 1, Ava Henderson (Chch), 10.4, 2, Ella Williams (WGM), 10.3, 3, Aimee Brown (GB), 6.93, 4
2020 Under 20 Boys Division Final
Kehu Butler (Mnt), 16.73, 1, Caleb Cutmore (Ham), 15.24, 2, Kora Cooper (Rag), 12.57, 3, Josef Jungwirth (Rag), 9, 4
2020 Under 20 Girls Division Final
Kai Woolf (Rag), 12.3, 1, Brie Bennett (Rag), 9.93, 2, Aimee Brown (GB), 8.46, 3, Ava Henderson (Chch), 6.56, 4
2020 Under 16 Boys Division Final
Finn Vette (Gis), 11.57, 1, Jayden Willoughby (Rag), 10.8, 2, Navryn Malone (Rag), 9.43, 3, Kora Cooper (Rag), 5.46, 4
2020 Under 16 Girls Division Final
Ava Henderson (Chch), 12.5, 1, Liv Haysom (Piha), 9.6, 2, Natasha Gouldsbury (Tara), 4.97, 3, Sophia Brock (Mnt), 3.83, 4
Information
For more information on the Backdoor King and Queen of the Point presented by Quiksilver, please contact Ben Kennings on 021 2278732 or email benkennings@surfingnz.co.nz.
Partners
Generous support from Backdoor Surf Shop, Quiksilver, Channel Island Surfboards and Sticky Johnson have made the event possible. The event is hosted by Raglan’s Point Boardriders.
Imagery
High resolution images will be available to media upon request. Images will be distributed free of charge.
Follow Surfing New Zealand
Keep in touch with all the surfing info from around the country by following Surfing New Zealand’s social media networks – @SurfingNZ.
Surfing New Zealand is proudly partnered by: 
Sport NZ
Volkswagen
Skinnies
Water Safety NZ
Arepa
Ends
