Image by: Roni Bintang
SURFEST Newcastle Australia 2023 presented by Reflections Holiday Parks has attracted 175 athletes to its two marquee events set for March 20-26 at Merewether beach.
Almost a quarter of the entire competitive field are internationals.
The World Surf League Qualifying Series (QS) 5000 Burton Automotive Pro has drawn 116 male athletes – with 25 hailing from overseas.
The QS5000 Speaking in Colour Womens Pro will host 59 surfers including 14 internationals.
Both competitions offer a prize purse of $50,000.
Top seed in the Burton Automotive Pro is Australian Dylan Moffat (Narrabeen, NSW), with countrymen Morgan Cibilic (Merewether beach, NSW) and Jacob Wilcox (Margaret River, WA) coming in at number two seed and number three seed respectively.
The top seed in the Speaking in Colour Womens Pro is 2020 Surfest Women’s Champ Bronte Macauley (Gracetown, WA), with Japanese Olympian Amuro Tsuzuki slotted in the second seeding and Zahli Kelly in third spot (Pumpenbil, NSW).
Newly crowned WSL World Junior Champion Jarvis Earle (Cronulla, NSW) will wear the competitor’s jersey in the Burton Automotive Pro, as will last year’s Surfest runner-up Nathan Hedge (Narrabeeen, NSW) and veteran goofy-footer Ace Buchan (Avoca, NSW).
In the Speaking in Colour Womens Pro, former Surfest champions Philippa Anderson and Dimity Stoyle will take to the water, as will Newcastle-based South African Sarah Baum, who bagged $10,000 and her biggest title victory to date just over a week ago at the Tweed Coast Pro .
Surfest moves out of wildcard trials this weekend with the WSL Lake Mac City Pro Junior slotted for Redhead beach.
More than 100 juniors and their families from around the nation will provide a boost to local accommodation providers, cafes and restaurants over the weekend.
With the support of the NSW Government through Destination NSW – the state’s lead government agency for the NSW tourism and major events sectors – Surfest will help drive visitor growth to Newcastle and the Hunter.
Surfest Newcastle Australia 2023 presented by Reflections Holiday Parks is made possible through the support of the NSW Government via its tourism and major events agency, Destination NSW, Burton Automotive, Maitland and Port Stephens Toyota, The City of Newcastle, Reflections Holiday Parks, crowd funding from the Newcastle business community, Lake Macquarie City Council and Newcastle and Hunter Regional businesses.
