Surfing with style

Red Bull Pimp the Board gave 25 girls aged between 10 and 16 the chance to come up with a design for Sofia Mulanovich's 2008 surfboard. No wonder Sofia wanted to flaunt her brand new one-off at the Roxy Pro in Australia from a particularly exposed position: the top step of the podium.

It's no surprise that a former ASP Women's World Champion and world runner-up last season is capable of demonstrating style and creativity on a surfboard. That's exactly what Sofia Mulanovich did at the season-opener of the ASP Tour 2008, the Roxy Pro Gold Coast in Australia, although there were two sides to the coin: firstly, she was on stupendous form on the day, netting a top score of 17.34 points and the day's highest heat total in clean three-foot (1 metre) waves. Secondly, she was equipped with her new surfboard, resplendent with lovingly designed and beautifully artistic "Sofia" graffiti, as designed by the 16-year-old winner of Red Bull Pimp the Board.

One-sided love affair no more

Winning the annual opening event means a great deal to the 154cm-tall Sofia - having never quite been able to get into a rhythm good enough for top results in Coolangatta: "I love the wave at Snapper," she said, "but until today, I hadn’t been able to get a result. So I'm twice as happy."

Top of the ratings for 2008 title

The 24-year-old Peruvian's stellar performance on the Gold Coast is worth a lot to her for another reason: Sofia, who just missed out on the title last year, is now at the top of the ratings in the race for the 2008 ASP Women's World Title. Her closest rivals for the title, she says, are "Steph [Gilmore] and Layne [Beachley]. But there are so many others with the potential to win - Samantha (Cornish), for example, who finished second today." Between March 19 and 24 they will all be doing their best to prevent Sofia from extending her ratings lead: the next event on the ASP Women's World Tour is the Rip Curl Pro, which takes place at Bells Beach.