In near-perfect conditions at Hale'iwa Ali'i Beach, Australia's Chelsea Georgeson had a self-described "perfect day" in winning the Roxy Pro women's surfing contest.

Georgeson scored a perfect 10 in the final heat to capture the first of three events in the women's division of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing.

"I'm feeling pretty burned right now, it was such a long day," said Georgeson, who won four heats yesterday. "I was just running on adrenaline."

Because of time restraints, and to take advantage of the conditions, the entire women's contest was completed yesterday in 4- to 6-foot waves.

"If it were any bigger, it would have been scary," Georgeson said. "But it turned out great. It was a perfect day all around."

Georgeson, 22, received $10,000 for the victory. Perhaps more important, she moved up to No. 1 in the women's rankings for the 2005 World Championship Tour.

"It felt like I was second for so long, so it's an insane feeling to think I'm No. 1 right now," she said. "It feels better than No. 2, that's for sure."

Defending world champion Sofia Mulanovich of Peru was eliminated in the quarterfinals and dropped to No. 2. The 2005 world title will be decided at the final event of the year — the Billabong Pro Maui, Dec. 8 to 20 at Honolua Bay.

Georgeson won her semifinal heat with an impressive two-wave score of 18.13 (out of 20). She carried the momentum into the final, scoring a 7.17 on the very first wave of the heat.

A few minutes later, she all but sealed the win with her perfect 10. She paddled into the 6-foot wave and proceeded to complete three textbook bottom-to-top carving maneuvers along the open section.

"I went down the line and tried to give it everything," she said. "I put all my body movement into the wave and hit the lip as hard as I could."

Late in the heat, Georgeson scored a 7.83 to give her a two-wave total of 17.83 (only the two best waves for each surfer count toward the final score).

Fellow Australian Claire Bevilacqua was equally thrilled to place second. It was her best showing in a Hawai'i contest.

"This is the biggest thing in my career so far," said Bevilacqua, 22. "This is one of the most prestigious events on the tour and I really needed to do well here to requalify (for the 2006 tour)."

Bevilacqua had a two-wave score of 11.23, and she received $6,000 for second place.

Another Australian, Melanie Redman-Carr, placed third with a two-wave score of 9.9.

Megan Abubo of Waialua was the only non-Australian in the final. She placed fourth with a two-wave score of 8.44.

"It was good Hale'iwa," Abubo said of the conditions. "Unfortunately in the final, it was pretty inconsistent and there weren't that many waves. I think I made the finals at Hale'iwa like six times now, but I can never win it."

Abubo is ranked No. 3 on the world tour, but is no longer in contention for the 2005 world championship.

"That's why I really wanted to win this contest," she said. "I knew it would be really hard to be in the world title race, so I wasn't even looking at that."

It was even more frustrating for the other Hawai'i surfers.

Kaua'i's Keala Kennelly tied for ninth; Wai'anae's Melanie Bartels and Honolulu's Carissa Moore tied for 13th; Kaua'i's Rochelle Ballard tied for 17th.

Moore, an eighth-grader at Punahou School, earned a spot in the contest by winning the trials heat earlier in the day.

Shark-attack survivor Bethany Hamilton of Kaua'i placed second to Moore in the trials heat and failed to advance.

The O'Neill World Cup of Surfing Sunset Challenge will be the second contest in the women's Triple Crown. It is scheduled to run between Nov. 25 and Dec. 7.

The men's OP Pro Hawai'i has until Nov. 23 to run its final day. For daily status of the contest, call 596-7873 or visit triplecrownofsurfing.com.

ROXY PRO

FINAL RESULTS

1, Chelsea Georgeson (Australia), $10,000. 2, Claire Bevilacqua (Australia), $6,000. 3, Melanie Redman-Carr (Australia), $4,400. 4, Megan Abubo (Hawai'i), $4,100. 5 (tie), Laurina McGrath (Australia) and Serena Brooke (Australia), $3,600. 7 (tie), Maria Tita Tavares (Brazil) and Samantha Cornish (Australia), $3,400. 9 (tie), Keala Kennelly (Hawai'i), Sofia Mulanovich (Peru), Jacqueline Silva (Brazil) and Heather Clark (South Africa), $2,800. 13 (tie), Melanie Bartels (Hawai'i), Carissa Moore (Hawai'i), Prue Jeffries (Australia) and Pauline Menczer (Australia), $2,700.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.