South African David Weare put the demons to rest and won this years Rip Curl Boardmasters. Last year he was runner up, this time he won with 16.37 points to Corey Zeims' 13.00. Very small conditions produced a tense final with the lead changing three times in the space of 30 minutes. Small pulses of swell produced rippable waves that offered both rights and lefts.

The middle bank at Fistral was offering the best shape to the waves with the lefts being a bit steeper, showing a bit of a pocket allowing Ziems to demonstrate his lightening quick back hand. Zeims from the Gold Coast has had the best back hand attack of the week.

However, the final was clinched with a 8.27 wave score by Weare, rated 39th on the ASP Men's WCT, when he slid into a right that didn't at first look like much but with Weares' smooth speed generating style and a perfectly timed cutback gave him the space for 7 manoeuvres!! Watch the vid below to see the winning wave.

Claudia Goncalves from Brazil has defeated a high profile field of competitors to win the Tampax Compak Fresh Pro World Qualifying Series (WQS) at the Rip Curl Boardmasters.

Goncalves acheived the highest score equal to Jessi Miley-Dyer in the semi's, though scores were pretty much similar across the board of the four who went through to the finals. Similarities stopped there, however, as she won the final in emphatic fashion, posting 13.17 points to defeat fellow Brazilian Silvana Lima, Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) and current WQS Rating Leader Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS). Lima, Gilmore and Miley-Dyer – who finished second to fourth respectively – could only manage single digit heat scores in the all important final.

Goncalves was rated 25th on the ASP Women’s WQS Ratings at the start of the week but after her giant killing win today she’s rocketed to 14th overall.

Silvana, aged 22, surfed well all week and gave her best effort in tagging Goncalves down in the final. Unfortunately for the pint-sized surfer it was all a little too late when the wave gods failed to deliver her a potential high scoring wave. Gilmore, third, who acheived the top wave score of the contest has moved up to second place in the WQS ratings.

Fourth place Miley-Dyer from Bronte in NSW, Australia, will continue to enjoy her view from the top of the WQS Ratings after picking up another 670 ratings points to take her tally to 7010.

Eco Tag Team

To finish off the surfing for the week was the eco-challenge tag-team contest. Rip Curl Boardmasters teamed up with the Eden project and Surfers Against Sewage to highlight sustainable green issues today by running a eco-tag team contest between Rip Curl and Fosters.

Rip Curl and Eden Project commissioned 2 identical hybrid surfboards to be made. The boards feature a Homeblown blank (produced locally in the South West which reduces mileage and also uses slightly cleaner chemistry), they are then laminated in hemp cloth and a plant based resin developed by Sustainable Composites. The laminating is carried out by Mark Hills.

Chris Hines of the Eden Project said, “These boards are not the ultimate in eco boards – we have yet to find the technologies and materials that allow that. The ultimate eco board must be equal to or better in terms of performance and quality and importantly will be cost equal to mass production and custom boards. In the long term all boards will be made in a sustainable manner. The aim is not to replace current manufacturers; it is simply to provide them with the materials and techniques that will allow them to build brilliant boards in an environmentally sound way”.

The boards stood up well to the testing with all the boys hooking a few waves.