By her own estimation, Megan Abubo has surfed at Hale'iwa Ali'i Beach "a million times."

Yesterday, she finally captured her one-in-a-million moment.

Abubo won the women's division of the Reef Hawaiian Pro contest yesterday. The final day of the event was run at Hale'iwa Ali'i Beach, where wave-face heights were in the 6- to 12-foot range.

"I grew up in Waialua and I used to ride my bike here every day after school," said Abubo, 29. "This has been one of my lifelong goals to win this event."

The Reef Hawaiian Pro is the first event in the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing series.

Abubo was a senior at Waialua High in 1995 when she burst onto the professional surfing scene by reaching the quarterfinals at Ali'i Beach. But a professional victory there had been elusive until yesterday.

"Making the final so many times and never winning out here made me a little bit nervous," she said.

But the day belonged to Abubo from the start.

The second round, quarterfinals, semifinals and final were all run yesterday. In her second-round heat in the morning, Abubo received a perfect 10 for completing a series of spectacular carving maneuvers.

She followed with impressive victories in her quarterfinal and semifinal heats.

"It just seemed like things were going for me," she said. "I'd always get the right waves. Mother Nature was on my side."

Just before the final in the late afternoon, the winds picked up and made the waves difficult to read.

"I've surfed Hale'iwa a million times ... every afternoon, Hale'iwa looks like that," Abubo said. "It didn't even faze me."

Australia's Layne Beachley — the defending world champion — held the lead for the first 20 minutes of the 30-minute final.

"It was really shifting and really challenging," she said. "The current was making things a little bit more challenging. I think we almost got washed out to Kaua'i at one stage, but we found our way back to O'ahu."

With around eight minutes remaining, Abubo found the wave of the final. She completed three precise carves before the wave shut down, and got a score of 8.5 to take the lead.

Abubo's two-wave total of 12.33 was enough to top Beachley's 10.67.

"Just being at home, I felt really comfortable," Abubo said. "I thought my local knowledge was going to pay off a bit."

In addition to capturing her elusive Hale'iwa victory, Abubo did something else important — she re-qualified for the 2008 World Championship Tour. Next year will be her 11th consecutive year on the WCT.

Abubo received $4,500 for the victory and moved into the early lead in the women's Triple Crown standings.

Beachley, who owns a record seven world titles, received $2,500 for second place.

Karina Petroni of Florida placed third, and also clinched a spot on the 2008 WCT.

Leilani Gryde of the Big Island placed fourth.

The next contest in the women's Triple Crown is the Roxy Pro at Sunset Beach, Nov. 25 to Dec. 6.

The men's division of the Reef Hawaiian Pro still has two days of competition remaining.

FINAL RESULTS

1, Megan Abubo (Hawai'i), $4,500. 2, Layne Beachley (Australia), $2,500. 3, Karina Petroni (Florida), $2,200. 4, Leilani Gryde (Hawai'i), $2,000. 5 (tie), Melanie Bartels (Hawai'i) and Amee Donohoe (Australia), $1,500. 7 (tie), Chelsea Hedges (Australia) and Sofia Mulanovich (Peru), $1,300. 9 (tie), Suelen Naraisa (Brazil), Courtney Conlogue (California), Rochelle Ballard (Hawai'i) and Jacqueline Silva (Brazil), $800. 13 (tie), Stephanie Gilmore (Australia), Samantha Cornish (Australia), Claire Bevilacqua (Australia) and Bethany Hamilton (Hawai'i), $700.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.