Gerroa's Sally Fitzgibbons scored the best result of her rookie year on the ASP Women's World Tour with a second placing in the Gidget Pro at legendary Sunset Beach yesterday.
The runner-up finish at the famed heavy break on Hawaii's north shore, where she has excelled in the past, moved the 18-year-old into fifth place in the rankings with only next month's Billabong Pro in Maui to come.
Fitzgibbons started with the highest-scoring ride of the final, but couldn't find the two-wave combination to complement her high mark and just finished behind Hawaiian Carissa Moore.
Australia's Stephanie Gilmore was third in the four-surfer final, missing the icing on the cake after securing her third-straight world title after the semis had been run.
Fitzgibbons showed her affinity for Sunset after posting the event's only 10-point ride in the semi-finals on her way to a heat score of 17.17 - the highest heat total of the contest.
The 2008 ASP WQS Champion and 2007 ASP World Junior Champion said the tough conditions had made life difficult for competitors.
"I was really happy to get that wave," Fitzgibbons said of her perfect ride.
"It was tricky. There were not that many waves in that heat."
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