Birubi Beach played host to 50 of the state's best up-and-coming surfing talent on Saturday, all of whom pulled out their best moves in a bid to win a coveted Surfest wildcard.
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Jimmi Hill, Taj Turner and Noah Bartlett were best for Port Stephens in the Burton Automotive Surfest Wildcard Trials but all just missed out on winning entry into events.
The trials were held in small conditions fanned by north-east winds on Saturday, February 18.
It was Newcastle surfer Manning Gregory who claimed the biggest prize of the day on Saturday - free entry into Surfest's WSL rated QS5000 Burton Automotive Pro.
Lilah Pearce, also from Newcastle, won the other coveted wildcard of the day - entry into the QS5000 Speaking in Colour Womens Pro.
Wildcard entries were also available into the nationally rated Sanbah Cadet Cup events.
Ben Zanatta (Dee Why) and Poppy O'Reilly (Bronte) earned entry into the Sanbah Cadet Cup under-16 competitions while Noah McBride (Newcastle) and Olivia Shannon (Umina) won entry into the under-14 events.
Taj Turner placed second in the open final, Hill third in the open final and Bartlett fourth in the under-14 final.
Surfest began on February 11 and will run at beaches in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie until March 26.
Next up for Hill plus fellow Port Stephens surfers Jasmine Sampson, Josh Stretton and Mikey Clayton-Brown will be the Surfers Rescue 24/7 Port Stephens Pro, a QS1000 event being staged at Birubi Beach from February 27 to March 1.
In other Port Stephens surf news
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