SURFEST is now down to the Rounds of 32 in the City of Newcastle Pro and the AAP Consulting Women's Pro after a day of exciting surfing in difficult wind-affected conditions.
The swell was expected to rise overnight but was still only about 1.5 metres at 10.00 o'clock last night.
A lot of the attention in the men's event yesterday was naturally enough on the Championship Tour (CT) stars, but it was young Cronulla gun Jarvis Earle who stole the show to win heat 10 with an enormous frontside alley-oop air on a rampy left that won the highest score of either the men's or the women's so far with a 9.10.
Merewether locals and CT participants Jackson Baker and Ryan Callinan won the first and 16th heats of the day to progress through the contest, while CTs star Leonardo Fioravanti (Italy) won the ninth heat and his travelling mate Frederico Morais, from Portugal, got through in second place in heat eight.
The CT stars were surfing for practice before Bells next month, but for the bulk of the field competing in the Qualifying Series, Surfest is the last competition on this year's QS tour, and a potential big influence on the outcome of the series, because as a highest-rated 5000-point contest, even a modest result can mean more to a surfer's overall series score than a win at a lower rated event.
Jackson said it felt "really cool to be back competing at Surfest".
"It's always such a fun week here at home and I'm excited this year to enjoy it for what it is and not be too stressed about QS points - I can just focus on putting on a show for my home town which is cool.
"This is also a great opportunity to surf some heats.
"On the CT you don't surf many heats unless you're winning the things so this is great to get time in the jersey. I've seen Ryan (Callinan) is on the other side of the draw so hopefully we can both get the job done and both meet in the final - that would guarantee a local winner which would be so good."
Fioravanti has been competing in Newcastle for almost a decade now and is happy to be back and is enjoying the challenges the regional QS competitors are throwing at him.
"I'm so happy to be back in Newcastle, I love this place," Fioravanti said.
"I had ankle surgery in the off season so I am still trying to work myself back into form so this is a great opportunity to do that. It looks like there is some great swell on the way so it could look a bit like Bells out here over the weekend.
There are a few CT guys in the event and it would be cool to all meet up on Finals Day but honestly, the level here in Australia is crazy high.
There are young surfers here who I've never heard of before and they're ripping so we're all going to have our work cut out for us."
Morais has also entered competition here in Newcastle with the hopes of getting as much time as possible in the jersey ahead of Bells and the second Aussie contest in Western Australia.
His opening round heat wasn't as smooth as his fellow CT competitors as he progressed in second place to local wildcard Joshua Levey who, in his first ever QS5000 appearance, overcame one of his heroes with a fantastic display of surfing in the tricky conditions.
Both Levey and the 'Portuguese Prince' will progress into the Round of 32.
"I'm pretty speechless to be honest," Levey said.
"I was just so thankful to get this opportunity to surf in an event of this size at my home break and share the water with one of the best in the world. To get a win over Freddy is so crazy, I feel really blessed to have found the waves I did and make it through that one."
Earlier in the day, the AAP Consulting Women's Pro saw the completion of the Round of 64 with standout performances from Freya Prumm, Kobie Enright and Nyxie Ryan who had the top three heat totals of the round.
The remaining fields are:
City of Newcastle Pro
Heat 1: Jackson Bake, Noah Stocca, Billy Stairmand, Levi Stewart
Heat 2; Tully Wylie, Zane Assink, George Pittar, Jacob Willcox
Heat 3: Kyuss King Duke, Wrencher, Ben Spence, Frederico Morais
Heat 4: Samson Coulter, Sheldon Simkus, Mitch Parkinson, Joshua Levey
Heat 5: Leonardo Fioravanti, Jarvis Earle, Thomas Carvalho, Maddy Job
Heat 6: Nathan Hedge, Cooper Davies, Harry Phillips, Joel Vaughan
Heat 7: Kalani Ball, Te Kehukehu Butler, Mike Clayton-Brown, Elliot Paerata-Reid
Heat 8: Jordan Lawler, Archer Curtis, Chris Zaffis, Ryan Callinan
AAP Consulting Women's Pro
Heat 1: Sophie McCulloch, Paige Hareb, Mia Huppatz, Amelie Bourke
Heat 2: Gabi Spake, Ellie Harrison, Keely Andrew, Alysse Cooper
Heat 3: Dimity Stoyle, Sierra Kerr, Shaye Leeuwendal, Ellie Brooks
Heat 4: Coco Cairns, Charli Hately, Philippa Anderson, Sarah Baum
Heat 5: Macy Callaghan, Alyssa Lock, Gia Lorentson, Logan Dalton
Heat 6: Jesse Starling, Concha Balsemao, Freya Prumm, Sage Goldsbury
Heat 7: Zahli Kelly, Charli Hurst, Raya Campbell, Sasha Baker
Heat 8: Saffi Vette, Holly Williams, Kobie Enright, Nyxie Ryan
