Local heroine Stephanie Gilmore made a flying start to her quest for a fifth women world surfing title with victory in the season-opening Gold Coast round on Sunday.

Gilmore scored a 9.2 wave in the last minute to defeat Sydney’s Laura Enever 16.37 to 14.2 in the Roxy Pro final.

Gilmore said the last 35 seconds of the event seemed to drag on like three days.

“Laura in her last heat showed everyone she’s willing to take off on anything and turn it into a big score in the last seconds, so I was really nervous,” she said.

“In the corner of my eye I could see everyone on the beach and it’s such a cool thing to see and feel and be part of.”

Gilmore said this season feels like a complete flip-side to her last season, when she was attacked by a man wielding an iron bar at her Tweed Heads home shortly before the first event of the year.

That incident weighed on her season as she struggled to third place, having won the world crown the previous four years.

“I’m 100 per cent more confident, my strength, my whole knowledge, awareness, everything. I just feel really good,” said Gilmore.

“Last year was one of my best years, in the sense that I learned so much about myself, about what I want to do, where I want to go, how much I enjoy being on tour and how much I enjoy being in that number one position, because I missed it.”

The new season is already over though for Brazil’s Silvana Lima, who tore a cruciate ligament in her knee in her quarter-final loss to Enever.