ASP Women’s World Tour rookie and amazing talent Carissa Moore (HAW), took the lead in the Rip Curl Women’s Pro Portugal in Peniche. The event had massice conditions for the first comp day of the waiting period, completing Rounds 1, 2 and 3 in offshore three-to-five foot (1.5 metre) waves at the backup venue of Lagido.

“I’m stoked as the conditions all day have been really good,” said Carissa. “I had a really nice heat with Rosanne (Hodge) and feel good. My board feels really good and I’m so thankful to Portugal for hosting us this year.” She even notched up the highest single-wave score of the day (a 9.00 out of a possible 10) for an inspired exhibition of backhand surfing. “It was weird because I couldn’t really hear the scores out there but I knew that one (9.00) was a good one. I watched Sally (Fitzgibbons) in the heat before kind of go off and that got me excited to perform too.”

Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS), 19, current ASP Women’s World No. 2, was another dominant performance today, netting a solid 16.83 out of a possible 20, including matching the day’s high single-wave score (a 9.00 out of a possible 10), in Round 3 of competition. “After the second round, the tide came in and it was tricky to line up which one was going to wall up,” Fitzgibbons said. “It’s a bit difficult with the wind coming up, trying to paddle into them. My board felt good and I ended up putting together a really nice heat. Hopefully I can keep the momentum going in the coming days.”

Watch out for the Quarterfinals, those two surfing against each other is set to be quite spectacular.

Reigning three-time ASP World Champion and current ASP leader Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), 22, on the other hand was uncharacteristically weak throughout the day, posting relatively meager scores despite advancing through to the Quarterfinals. “I’m struggling in these waves windy lefthanders,” she explained. “It’s really not my forte, but it’s good something to work on for me. Hopefully today is the end of this venue and we’ll be back to Supertubos.”

Steph will face Paige Hareb (NZL), 20, in the Quarterfinals of the Rip Curl Women’s Pro Portugal.

But why not follow the events yourself on the webcast via live.ripcurl.com

And more for more info go to aspworldtour.com