I'm wearing plenty of sunscreen while watching the girls, unlike Transworld Surf's Justin Cote!

Saturday morning in Australia and a nice little swell that you could almost call “cute”, due to the petite size and the fact that the contest directors decided it was perfect for the girls, had arrived. I got my usual first-hour-of-light session in at Duranbah, except that it was unusually fun. I actually scored my best waves of the trip so far and practically skipped back home excitedly, happy to hang out on the beach and watch my friends compete for the rest of the day in the inconsistent but rippable waist to head high peelers filtering in through the rocks at Snapper.

The beach was packed for the final day of girl's competition

The round 3 heats were exciting. Layne Beachley surfed with remarkable speed and flair considering that at age 37, she is the oldest on tour. I suppose her 7 world titles should have made the performance less surprising, but I was impressed regardless. The all Hawaiian heat of Megan Abubo and Mel Bartels was exciting. You just never know what to expect from Mel Bartels. She is one of the most skilled chicks on tour, with a progressive repertoire including fin-sliding top turns, reverses, and aerials. However, her motivation level is never predictable and often the quality of her first wave of the heat can so significantly impact her mental state that the heat outcome can easily be predicted by how she scores on that first ride. In that heat, she opened strong and I thought that Megan would have a hard time beating her. Megan of course, known for solidity and power, especially on rights, who won a WCT event in similar conditions at Malibu a few years ago can never be counted out. She did score one of the bigger sets of the day and smashed it, earning a high score, but it wasn’t quite enough to take down Bartels.

The most anticipated heat of the day was the rematch between World Champ and local, Steph Gilmore and 15-year-old Roxy team rider and wildcard, Carissa Moore. The long peeling rights would suit the surfing of both girls and the entire beach was eager to witness the match-up. Carissa seemed to make a mistake in the first few seconds of the heat, paddling for a mediocre wave and awarding first priority to Steph. Then, a smaller inside wave came through, but Steph let it go. Carissa went and the wave peeled perfectly across the sandbar all the way through to the inside, allowing her the perfect opportunity to showcase her tail sliding top turns and smooth cutbacks. She earned something like an 8 and instantly put the pressure on the new World Champ. Steph sat patiently and waited for the wave that would allow her to do the same, but it just didn’t come. Carissa picked up another mid-size wave and impressed the crowd once again. Unfortunately for Steph, she just couldn’t put it together and like Layne Beachley at this event last year, was beaten by the youngster. She must have been able to relate to how Carissa must have felt as a few years ago Steph entered the Roxy Pro as a wildcard and went on to win the event, beating world champs along the way.

Steph, coming in after her Round 3 loss and being crowned with the obligatory Rip Curl logo in preparation for all the interviews

Even after losing, the world champ was swarmed with media and fans.

Carissa looked likely to make the final and possibly win the event until she came up against the un-sponsored 27 year old, Sam Cornish. Sam finished 4th in the world last year, a career best and looks strong and focused enough to climb the ratings a few more spots this year. She notoriously raises her game in pressure situations and did just that today in her semi final matchup against Carissa. The young wildcard opened up early with the expected big scores. Sam answered back wave for wave, earning 7s and 8s, but still fractions of a point under Carissa. About half way through the heat, Carissa was leading with Sam needing a mid 7. Sam then took off on a solid set, bottom turned up to belt the lip, then wound her way down the point. Spectators started discussing, “would it be enough?” I thought so, but was surprised when the judges threw the highest score of the event, a 9.25, creating a gap even Carissa couldn’t bridge.

Quarterfinalist Rebecca Woods has a chat with Martin Potter

The final was relatively anti-climactic with the swell faltering with the high tide. Sophia Mulanovich, 2007 world title runner-up, and another impressive performer in smaller rights, scored every good wave and tore them apart. Sam ended up in a combination situation in the last few minutes, simply unable to find a wave that lined up. She had used up all her luck in the previous heat, but opening the year with a 2nd is nothing to be disappointed about.

Sophia had earned a 3rd at Snapper a few years ago but since then nothing but 17ths. She was happy to improve and finally win an event on the Gold Coast. She thanked her boyfriend Scott for his support, to which he reacted with a shy smile and a big slurp on one of the Coronas in his hand.