Australia's Stephanie Gilmore is still perfect when it comes to winning surfing world championships.

In her second year on the ASP Women's World Tour, Gilmore clinched her second world title yesterday.

She did it in dramatic style, winning the Roxy Pro women's contest in the closing minutes at Sunset Beach.

"To come out on top is kind of like proof that the first one wasn't a fluke," said Gilmore, 20. "It's such an incredible feeling. I can't even explain how it feels."

The final day of the Roxy Pro was run in wave-face heights that were in the 4- to 8-foot range.

At the start of the day, Gilmore was one of four surfers in contention for the 2008 women's world title.

But No. 2 Sofia Mulanovich of Peru lost in the quarterfinals, then No. 3 Layne Beachley of Australia lost in the semifinals.

No. 4 Silvana Lima of Brazil made it to the final, but needed to place ahead of Gilmore to keep the title race going into the next contest.

"I had no idea this was going to happen today when I woke up this morning," Gilmore said. "Sofia went down, and then Layne went down, and I found myself in the final with a chance to clinch it."

Sunset Beach is renowned for its powerful waves, and some of the women were not in favor of running the final day in yesterday's relatively small conditions. Gilmore, however, remained focused on the task.

"I wasn't really fazed," she said. "It was either these waves or survival conditions. I think the forecast is supposed to be pretty damn big for the next four or five days, so it was kind of a throw of the dice. It's still a nice, pretty day, and it's good for women's surfing, so I'm happy."

The Roxy Pro is the seventh of eight contests on the 2008 ASP Women's World Tour. The only way Gilmore could clinch the title yesterday was to win the contest.

Lima nearly kept the race going to the final event at Maui next week.

"I knew I had to win the final to claim the title here at Sunset, and when Silvana (Lima) got off to such a solid start, I thought I would have to get a result in Maui," Gilmore said.

Lima had the lead for most of the 35-minute final.

With about four minutes remaining, Gilmore paddled into one of the bigger waves of the day and then completed three textbook carves in the open section. The judges rewarded her with a score of 8.5 (out of 10), which was enough to put her in the lead.

"It was definitely the wave of the whole heat," Gilmore said. "It lined up really nicely, hit the reef in the right direction, and I had to race to the section a little bit. But then the face kind of opened up and I was able to get a good first turn, which is really important out there. Then followed up with a couple little ones, and that's all you need."

Gilmore finished with a two-wave score of 15.83 (out of 20). She received $12,000 for the victory.

Last year, she became the first women's surfer to win a world title in her rookie season.

"The second one definitely feels better than the first one," Gilmore said. "I'm going to savor this one for a while and then re-adjust my goals for next year. There should be big celebrations on for tonight."

Lima placed second with a two-wave score of 14.16. She has finished second in the last three women's world tour contests, including twice to Gilmore.

"I don't know why I cannot win," Lima said. "I don't know what else I have to do. I feel like I am surfing well, but I just cannot win. Still, a second-place is a good result for me and I am happy with my surfing."

Australians Jessi Miley-Dyer and Nicola Atherton placed third and fourth, respectively. Neither could find a good wave in the final, so it turned into a showdown between Gilmore and Lima.

Although Gilmore has the 2008 title clinched, she said she will enter the final event — the Billabong Girls Pro at Honolua Bay, Maui.

The Roxy Pro was also the second of three events in the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing series.

Beachley is the current leader in the Triple Crown standings, and Gilmore is now in contention for that as well.

"I haven't won a Triple Crown yet, so I'd love to see my name on that list," Gilmore said. "I'll head over to Maui and hopefully get some more good waves."

Waialua's Megan Abubo tied for fifth place in the Roxy Pro and was the top-placing Hawai'i surfer.

Honolulu teenager Carissa Moore — who won the first Triple Crown contest — was eliminated in the trials round last week.

The men's O'Neill World Cup of Surfing did not run heats yesterday. There are still two days of competition remaining for that contest, and waves are expected to rise this week at Sunset Beach.

For updates, visit http://www.triplecrownofsurfing.com.

FINAL RESULTS

1, Stephanie Gilmore (Australia), $12,000. 2, Silvana Lima (Brazil), $7,000. 3, Jessi Miley-Dyer (Australia), $5,100. 4, Nicola Atherton (Australia), $4,900. 5 (tie), Megan Abubo (Hawai'i), Layne Beachley (Australia), $4,600. 7 (tie), Serena Brooke (Australia), Lee Ann Curren (France), $4,400. 9 (tie), Claire Bevilacqua (Australia), Melanie Bartels (Hawai'i), Sally Fitzgibbons (Australia), Melanie Redman-Carr (Australia). 13 (tie), Samantha Cornish (Australia), Coco Ho (Hawai'i), Sofia Mulanovich (Peru), Rebecca Woods (Australia).