WET ‘N’ WILD WITH ROCKIN’ FIG:

It’s the start of the Assn. of Surfing Professional’s women’s world tour in Australia with the Roxy Pro Gold Coast kicking off last weekend.

It’s a big year for the gals. There’s a bunch of new talent rising up the charts and some new faces and names to get acquainted with.

Gone is seven-time world champ Layne Beachley, who retired and was on tour for an incredible 19 years. The new queen of the throne, Aussie Stephanie Gilmore, just turned 21 and already has two world titles under her belt. Gilmore is the local favorite and already took an impressive win in round one.

The hot crop of rookies who took wins in the first round includes Aussie Sally Fitzgibbons, who surfs really fast, throws big turns and had the highest two-wave scores of the round 18.77. Last season, Fitzgibbons qualified for the dream tour at the halfway mark, which is unheard of.

Kauai’s Alana Blanchard cruised to victory, too, another first-year tour star who likes busting airs and has honed her skills at the classic right-hand point break Hanalei Bay.

The 2005 world champ Chelsea Hedges is competing again after having a baby. She had a nice win with some tail-drifting moves over rookie Hawaiian Coco Ho in their first match-up. Ho has surfed pretty darn good for her first opener against the big gals.

And from Brazil, Bruna Schmitz, the hot goofy footer, had some killer back-side blasters, taking a win for the new guard. Last year’s runner-up to the world title, Brazil’s Silvana Lima, lost a close one to Fitzgibbons, but busted a perfect-10 score in that heat. On a set right, she drove a nice bottom turn, blasted the lip, busting an air and kept on going, not missing a beat.

Former world champ Sophia Mulanovich was sent to the loser’s round, getting one more chance to pull it off.

Others to watch for include Hawaii’s Melanie Bartels from the Westside. She’s very explosive. Seasoned Australian veterans like Amee Donohoe, Samantha Cornish, Rebecca Woods and Jessie Miley Dyer are always threats. Brazil’s Jacqueline Silva could go big as well as South Africa’s Rosanne Hodge, who won the Assn. of Surfing Professionals’ World Qualifying Series ratings to requalify this year. The first Kiwi on the tour, New Zealander Paige Hareb, is a good tube rider to beware of.

The city’s lifeguard tryouts, by the way, were last Sunday at the pier with a big turnout. Speaking of lifeguards, they’ve been getting some surf action, too. Marine Safety Officer Steve Reuter’s ripping on his Surf Tech, Matt Carl’s getting all the sets on his long board, Danny Kaihua’s been doing the stand-up paddle boarding lately, and even Ocean lifeguard 1 David Chandler’s throwing some mean turns on the North-side. That’s it for now.

Figgy over and out.

RICK FIGNETTI is a 10-time West Coast champion and a longtime KROQ-FM surfologist. He owns a surf shop on Main Street. You can reach him at (714) 536-1058.