Australia's Melanie Redman-Carr proved that women can challenge the powerful waves of Sunset Beach.

Redman-Carr scored a near-perfect barrel ride en route to winning the O'Neill World Cup of Surfing Sunset Challenge women's contest yesterday.

The contest was completed in traditional wave heights of 4 to 8 feet. It was the second of three events in the women's division of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing.

"When ever the waves are big, that's the contest that people talk about," said Redman-Carr, 30. "To do good at Sunset, that's one to remember."

It was the first women's contest staged at Sunset Beach since 2000. Waves were biggest in the morning, and diminished slowly throughout the day.

"I was fairly comfortable out there; we've surfed it bigger in the past," Redman-Carr said. "I think it's necessary for the girls to have an event like this."

Waves were inconsistent during the 35-minute final, and Redman-Carr won it with virtually one ride.

With around 11 minutes remaining, she successfully rode through a barreling wave. The judges rewarded her with a 9.33 (out of 10).

"It was nice to get in (the barrel)," she said. "But it was even nicer to come out."

Redman-Carr finished with a two-wave score of 15.33, although her barrel ride alone would have been enough to win the final.

Kaua'i veteran Rochelle Ballard placed second with a two-wave score of 8.33. Kaua'i teenager Alana Blanchard was a surprising third with 8.03, and Australian Claire Bevilacqua was fourth with 4.6.

Redman-Carr also took the lead in the Triple Crown standings. The final women's event is the Billabong Pro Maui, Dec. 8 to 20 at Honolua Bay, Maui.

Ballard also charged into barrel rides, but she could not make it out successfully.

On her first two rides of the final, Ballard got smashed in the barrel and wound up snapping her surfboards in half both times.

"It would have been incredible if I could have come out of that first barrel," said Ballard, 34. "I know I would have got a 10, but that's how it goes sometimes."

Ballard had to use four different surfboards in the final. Her first two snapped in half early in the heat, and her third was too big so she switched it midway through the heat.

"It made it a little more challenging for me, but I'd rather be in that situation than not catching waves at all," she said.

Blanchard, 15 and a home school student from Hanalei, Kaua'i, was the only amateur to advance past the first round.

"It was really neat because I didn't think I would ever get to the finals and I surfed with three of the best girl surfers in the world," she said.

The men's O'Neill World Cup of Surfing still has one more day of competition at Sunset Beach.

FINAL RESULTS

1, Melanie Redman-Carr (Australia), $2,500. 2, Rochelle Ballard (Hawai'i), $1,250. 3, Alana Blanchard (Hawai'i), $1,000. 4, Claire Bevilacqua (Australia), $850. 5 (tie), Megan Abubo (Hawai'i) and Sofia Mulanovich (Peru), $700. 7 (tie), Chelsea Georgeson (Australia) and Keala Kennelly (Hawai'i), $575.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.