After a seven year hiatus the Women's World Tour returned to Fiji and into perfect reefbreak waves. Though conditions on day one were below average - though not compared to the usual fare the Women are sent out in - things improved for the following two days. First at Restaurants and then at Cloudbreak, the women surfed the best conditions seen in many a year...well, at least since Bells last year.

On the final day at Cloudbreak it was experience in solid reef pass waves that caught many of the competitiors short. All except Tyler Wright, Sally Fitzgibbon, Steph Gilmore, and Malia Manuel struggled to make sense of the lineup. And positioning is only half the game at Cloudbreak. Like all black diamond reef passes it requires felicitous down the line rhythm, a quality that eluded many of the women due to sheer inexperience.

Sally Fitzgibbon reduced the luck factor by riding a longer board during her Round 4, Quarter, and Semi Final heats. It was a canny ploy, the extra length allowing her to navigate the lineup, catch more waves, and also find the requisite lines. It paid off, though her trusted steed snapped in the Semi.

Fortunately the surf dropped in the Final against Gilmore. After a day of cream the final curdled with smaller, less consistent waves under a gathering onshore. Sally won, but It was a low-scoring affair in conditions approaching, but not quite, the next stop on the women's tour: Huntington Beach

POSTSCRIPT: For those who thought yesterday was a high water mark in Women's surfing check this wave of Rochelle Ballard taken in 2007, the last time the Women visited Fiji.