New Zealand may just be the perfect breeding ground for surfers: plenty of top-shelf surf spots and hardly a soul to get in your way. With only the sheep watching on, surfers like Billy Stairmand are free to practice and experiment at their own pace, developing their own styles and approaches along the way. The formula’s worked out well for Billy. The powerful regular-footer is arguably the hottest thing coming out of Kiwi country, and has the results to back it up. Not only that, the kid came out of nowhere last year to finish equal ninth at the Oakley Pro Junior Global Challenge. He’ll be back at it again in 2009 and may not be able to utilize the element of surprise like he once did, but ask him and he’ll probably tell you that’s all right.