“That was fun !” Stairmand said. “Everyone was sitting wide and I just wanted to sit deep and have my own little peak, just go out there and have as much fun as I could ! I was out there and I saw a big set coming, I just took off and I knew I only had to do two or three turns to get a good score just because it was a bigger wave. I had a good first turn and a sucky section came along and I just tried to go big and throw some spray for the judges!”

In the dying instants of their 25-minute confrontation, Stairmand and Patacchia shared a set, the Hawaiian opting for the first wave and applying his lethal fronthand attack while Stairmand started on the second wave to throw three massive turns on his backside. Both waves came as excellent scores in the 9 point range and the difference was made with the better backup score of the Kiwi.

“I had a good start to the season in the Aussie Open I got third, and after that I don’t know, I’ve just been travelling heaps and have been down a little but trying to keep my rankings up.. I’m feeling good, trying to be as happy as possible and having fun ! The Top 100 is what I aimed to be at the start of the year, so I’m stoked to be in all the Primes and 6-Stars. It’s always good to surf against the best guys, I actually feel more relaxed cause like Freddy P. (Patacchia) is on the World Tour and has been there for years, he’s one of my favourite surfers, it’s just cool to be out there with these guys and we’re just having fun and doind the same thing!”

Stairmand will be facing Jean Da Silva (BRA), Cristobal De Col (PER) and Matt Wilkinson (AUS) in the next round while Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) will deal with an-all European affair against Maxime Huscenot (FRA), Jonathan Gonzalez (CNY) and Alain Riou (PYF).

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