Today Sally (AUS) was at the pinnacle of her career, winning her first ASP Women’s World Title event, after she managed to beat ASP Women’s World No. 1 Carissa Moore (HAW), sewing it up in the last couple of minutes, and riding right onto the beach fists in the air. She edged ahead of Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) in the semi-final, leaving Gilmore to settle with 3rd.

After some flippant commentary from the presenter, an emotional but well spoken Sally had her chance to ring that famous bell, saying “Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always watched my heroes surf and win here and I’ve always dreamed of ringing the Bell and now that it’s happened”

The women’s comp as been so exciting this year, with the commentators and those in the know constantly stating that this is at the beginning of a new era in women’s surfing, with so many exceptionally talented young girls coming into the competition, pushing the bar higher than it’s ever been before.

For the mens heats that ran first thing this morning, the stand-out was Mick Fanning (AUS), who was giving a full display of his “lightning quick” dominating the heat against Michel Bourez (PYF) and Jadson Andre (BRA) with an incredible 19.10/20

The other winners for the mens heats were Joel Parkinson (AUS) with a 15.26, Kelly Slater (USA) with a 13.67 and Jordy Smith (ZAF) with 14.27 

Capacity crowds filled every square foot of the beach and grandstands today, and the crowd were rewarded with the best day of bells competition seen in a long time.

With more waves on the horizon, it’s looking like there’ll be only one day of the Rip Curl Pro to go.