After the chaos and carnage of yesterday’s men’s first round, it was a return to sanity this morning at Bells Beach. As the first round of the women’s event was run in clean two foot Rincon, there were rainbows, smiles… hell, you could almost hear the pan pipes blowing across the farmland that backs onto the famous wave. The whole thing had an air of serenity about it that was in stark contrast to the bloodbath that had gone on here only 24 hours earlier. The only sounds audible were the gnashing of teeth as the guys who were eliminated after one heat yesterday watched on as the girls surfed their traditional “no losers” first round heats.

Most of the guys who lost yesterday have already headed home with only Roy Powers and Dustin Barca spotted in the Winki car park today. Mick Fanning and CJ were the only Top 16 guys spotted at Bells this morning, the rest of them taking the morning off or making plans for coming days. With the forecast looking skinny at best, already there’s talk of crew disappearing on flights north to the Gold Coast, which hasn’t dropped below four foot in weeks. Kelly Slater, who hasn’t been spotted in town yet, was reportedly at the airport in Sydney, his pane headed north though, not south.

The girls paddled out this morning to squeeze the last drops from a swell whose best days were long past. One of these girls was paddling out to prove, for herself anyway, that just the opposite was true. Layne Beachley’s well spruiked retirement last year was never going to last long, and it wasn’t a great surprise to see her take her place in the field at Bells. She’d resisted the temptation to surf the Gold Coast event, and despite insisting her Bells dalliance was just a bit of hit and giggle, surfed like she wanted an eighth world title. She top scored for the day surfing a quad, but only laughed when asked if she intended to ride a 5’4” quad in her next heat, a la Kelly. If Layne is having trouble retiring she should take some notes from contest director Damien Hardman. He was so good at retiring he did it four times.

Steph meanwhile is looking a little too comfortable in this world champion role second time round. She barely got out of first gear in her heat today and yet still cruised to victory, and the way she has been juggling sponsorship and media commitments with her trademark perma-grin and the charm seemingly on tap, she’s looking made for the gig.

From here the event goes into a holding pattern not unfamiliar to anyone who’s lived this event first hand. The ocean will develop rigor mortis over the next four days, and may only come back from the dead – of course – on Easter Sunday.

RIP CURL WOMEN’S PRO BELLS BEACH ROUND 1 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 13.67, Amee Donohoe (AUS) 10.77, Rebecca Woods (AUS) 8.30
Heat 2: Layne Beachley (AUS) 14.33, Rosanne Hodge (ZAF) 8.50, Paige Hareb (NZL) 6.33
Heat 3: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 13.60, Bruna Schmitz (BRA) 11.50, Nikki Van Dijk (AUS) 9.50
Heat 4: Chelsea Hedges (AUS) 15.40, Silvana Lima (BRA) 14.84, Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS) 10.97
Heat 5: Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 13.83, Alana Blanchard (HAW) 10.54, Coco Ho (HAW) 10.33
Heat 6: Samantha Cornish (AUS) 9.80, Jacqueline Silva (BRA) 9.60, Melanie Bartels (HAW) 8.33

RIP CURL WOMEN’S PRO BELLS BEACH ROUND 2 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1: Melanie Bartels (HAW), Coco Ho (HAW), Nikki Van Dijk (AUS)
Heat 2: Rebecca Woods (AUS), Paige Hareb (NZL), Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS)