Taranaki’s Tommy Butland and 15-year-old Raglan surfer Alani Morse win the Backdoor King & Queen of the Point, and claim the wildcards for the Raglan Pro, stop number 4 on the World Surf League Championship Tour, May 15-25.
With the cleanest 3-5 foot surf of the five-day event window at Manu Bay, the two surfers won their respective divisions in what has become the biggest surf event of the year. The crowd at Manu Bay swelled for finals day with a real buzz running around the town reminiscent of the WQS way back in 1996.
24-year-old Tommy Butland battled through a field of 112 surfers in the Open Men’s Division while Alani Morse topped a field of 32 surfers in the Open Women’s Division as well as claiming the Under 20 Girls Division earlier in the afternoon.
The two surfers will now face off against the best in the world when the tour arrives in New Zealand, joining Raglan surfer Billy Stairmand as the three Kiwi representatives in the May 15-25 event.
The three surfers will join an elite group of New Zealanders who have surfed at the top echelon of the sport. That list includes Allan Byrne and Iain “Ratso” Buchanan, who competed in the World Surfing Championship as it was known then; Maz Quinn, Paige Hareb, Ricardo Christie, who all qualified for at least one year on the championship tour, and Sarah Mason and Ella Williams, who both won wildcards to at least one round of the championship tour.
Butland stormed to victory in the final after a slow start saw him sitting in fourth place. However, the strong and powerful natural footer sat deep on the point before picking up an 8.50 point ride then a 7.87 point ride immediately after to jump to the lead.
“Yeah, it’s pretty special,” said a near speechless Tommy. “I don’t even know where to start. The conditions put it on for us in our final, and the boys were ripping. Elliott was going hard all heat, same with Tao and Kora.”
“I was just thinking: I’ve got to go full steam into the final, otherwise, the boys are just going to take me down,” he admits. “Once I got that eight, I was like, ‘all right, I just need to settle down and find a good one, crack a good turn, and then make sure I finish it’ and I did on that last wave.”
“It’s wild to think about the wildcard, I’m tripping on it – I can’t even believe it, to be honest.”
“It’s wild to think about the wildcard, I’m tripping on it – I can’t even believe it, to be honest.”
Tom said he couldn’t have got here without his physio, strength and conditioning coach, Joe.
“I was injured all of last year with my knee and then I blew my shoulder and elbow,” Tom explains. “Last year was a real rough year. So, I’ll be locking in for the next month trying to get top form, and come back to Rags. I’ll probably come back to Rags next time there are a couple of swells, too.”
Elliot Paerata-Reid held the lead for much of the 30-minute final posting a 15.50 point heat total before succumbing to Butland late in the heat. Local surfer Kora Cooper got the Manu Bay hillside cheering loud for his performances before finishing in third place with Mount Maunganui’s Tao Mouldey finishing in fourth after a stellar run to the finals for all four finalists.
At 15, Alani Morse was the youngest of the finalists in the Open Women’s Division and she left it until her last wave with less than a minute remaining to score a 6.93 and jump from fourth to first, overtaking seasoned pro and wildcard favourite Paige Hareb for the win. With a deft knowledge of the break, Alani scraped into a small wave deep but she could see it lining up down the point and knew it had the potential for a buzzer beater.
“I was in tears after that final,” said an emotional Alani. “I just knew that I was gonna get a wave at the end, so I was just waiting. I was at peace with the whole heat, and I know everyone was stressing on the beach, but I knew God had it under control …”
“I thought I had the score, but I never overthink it because sometimes you can think you surfed well, but you hadn’t,” she smiles. “But, I felt really confident.”
Standouts: Alani Morse Is On A Mission
“I’ve looked up to all those girls older than me for so long – coming to every King and Queen of the Point and watching them,” Alani admits. “I’ve always wanted to win it, and I guess this is the best time to do that.”
“I’ve looked up to all those girls older than me for so long – coming to every King and Queen of the Point and watching them. I’ve always wanted to win it, and I guess this is the best time to do that.”
“The May event is a big opportunity,” Alani offers. “It’s really exciting. I’ll be able to push myself against some really amazing surfers, so I’ll be really excited and training hard for that.”
Alexis Owen snatched the win in the Under 20 Boys Division with a final wave 6.40 in the dying stages of the final to edge out Rico Haybittle (Burleigh) – 12.57 to 12.50.
Alani made the Under 20 Girls Division final count with a strong performance at her local break. Her finals performance was highlighted by a 6.83 point ride to round out the 20 minute heat, securing the win over Lola Groube (Pau) in second, Maya Mateja (Rag) in third and Kyra Wallis (Piha) in fourth.
The heritage heat was claimed by Raglan local and New Zealand surfing icon Daniel Kereopa who navigated the six person final the best, Kereopa was joined by two-time world champion Tom Carroll, famous DJ Dimity Stoyle, Backdoor Surf founder Geoff Hutchison, Raglan Surf Report’s Luke Cederman and WSL wildcard surfer Billy Stairmand.
The WSL Raglan Pro takes place from 15-25 May at Manu Bay and features the top sixty surfers in the world.
The five-day Backdoor King and Queen of the Point presented by Quiksilver, Roxy and the WSL took place over five days despite an atrocious forecast and challenging unseasonal conditions. This event lured back a wide gamut of New Zealand’s very best surfers. It was the biggest ever field of surfers for a New Zealand surf contest.
