It took 24 years but finally a local has claimed a main event win at Newcastle Surfest.
17 year-olf Philippa Anderson has been a Merewether girl since arriving from South Africa with her family five years ago and she’ll be forever remembered as the first home grown winner of her adopted city’s premier event.
She beat Dimity Stoyle in a thrilling finish. After racking up some solid rides, Anderson watched as the Sunshine Coast surfer caught the last wave of the heat and almost stole the win. After waiting what seemed an eternity for the scores to come in, Anderson was finally crowned the winner by just 1.25.
In the mens, Central Coaster Drew Courtney endured some rotten luck in the MR Pro final but little could have stopped the efforts of Travis Logie. The South African revelled in the small Merewether surf as he went on to post one of the highest heat scores of the event to win and get his pro career headed back the right way after a serious knee injury.
