The women’s contest lacked a major sponsor last year and was reduced to a 1000-point competition in the World Surf League qualifying series.

But this year, organisers shored up the competition financially and restored its six-star, 6000-point rating after offering shares worth $1500 each to local businesspeople.

The scheme will extend next year to include a $10,000 marketing budget for the eventual naming rights sponsor, a bigger prize pool for competitors and “surfer meet-and-greets”.

Merewether surfer Philippa Anderson, who won her home event in 2009, said the funding meant the top female surfers would return to Newcastle.

“I wasn’t really sure how it would go [with crowd funding], but everyone was pretty excited how big it blew up,” Ms Anderson said.

“If it weren’t to go ahead as a six-star event it would be pretty sad, especially with it being on my doorstep.”

Surfest coordinator Warren Smith said the event’s first crowd funding campaign was a “huge success”, and had bolstered the women’s competition with more prize money, bigger audiences and higher-quality surfers.

The 2017 women’s field has expanded by a dozen surfers to 84.