GRACETOWN’S Bronte Macauley has recently made back to back finals of the Los Cabos Open in Mexico to solidify her spot on the Women’s Qualifying Tour.
Macaulay returned to her second consecutive final in Los Cabos after taking down Sage Erickson in the semi-finals and fell just short of a repeat to an unstoppable Silvana Lima.
But, this marks the Aussie's best result of 2017 and can now head into the summer break with some confidence as she moves to No. 3 on the qualifying series.
“I feel like Silvana was the best surfer in this event and she posted up so many good heats so I knew it'd be a tough one,” Macaualy said.
“I'm a little disappointed in my surfing, but it felt good to get going on the QS. It'll be great to spend some time at home after a quick stay in California, then head back there for the QS and CT [championship tour] leg.”
Sage Erickson matched her best QS result of 2017 with a semi-final finish behind runner-up Macaulay after tearing apart this event. The Ventura, California, native will look for a big summer run in both the QS and CT, where she currently sits at No. 9 among the Top 17.
“Bronte is such an amazing surfer and it was great to surf against her in that final,” winner Lima said.
The 34-year-old charged through two fellow CT competitors starting with Keely Andrew in the semi-finals where she posted an excellent 8.17 before backing it up with another 8.77. Lima continued that brilliance into the final with another 8.17 over last year's champion Bronte Macaulay and solidified her win. The next WQS 6000 point event will be the Supergirl Pro at Oceanside, California July 28 - 30.
Forecast: Thursday sees a low pressure move down the coast and will produce strong SE offshore winds and a 3m swell. Friday has similar conditions but a larger groundswell period. Saturday will have ESE winds and a smaller 2m swell and more offshore winds on Sunday but smaller swell.
Hotspot: Smiths Beach.