Clark on her quest to claim Mr Price Pro

She's the undisputed queen of South African surfing, and on July 5 Heather Clark will begin her quest to become the first South African woman to win the prestigious Mr Price Pro at North Beach in Durban.

The 32-year old Port Shepstone surfer, who narrowly lost out, by just 0.04 points, on winning the elite World Championship Tour (WCT) crown and eventually placed third on the international ratings last year, has just moved into second position on the World Qualifying Series (WQS) ratings and is confident in her ability to beat the best in the world in the upcoming four-star women's event.

The former two-time bronze medallist at North Beach will launch her campaign at the one- star Mr Price Nightsurfing Pro starting next Friday.

"I'd love to win in front of a home crowd. There is a bit of pressure, but I'm also quite nervous. I'm just going to go out and give it my best shot." Clark, currently 11th on the WCT, said she was comfortable surfing at night and enjoyed the conditions at North Beach.

"The nightsurfing contest is a great warm-up for the Mr Price Pro. The money and points are huge incentives, but my main concern is accumulating points. I'm concentrating on one heat at a time and not worrying about who I have in my heats - my goal in the night contest and the Mr Price Pro would be to make the finals.

At a four-star event, you want to finish at least third to make it a counting event at the end of the year."

The former multiple national champ rated international surfers Rebecca Woods, defending event winner Serena Brooke, Kate Skarratt, Prue Jefferies, Pauline Menczer, Caroline Sarran, Silvana Lima, Laurina McGrath, Marie-Pierre Abgrall and locals Rosanne Hodge and Tammy Lee Smith as her main rivals.

The six-times South African ladies series champ, who has been on the prestigious WCT for the past four years, has been in sparkling form on the WQS.

"I'm not sure why I've been more successful on the WQS than on the WCT - I've been doing the same thing on both tours. I'm not too worried about it now.

"We have lots of events to go and as long as I'm doing well on one or both tours, that's okay by me."

Fergie, as she is known in surfing circles, began her outstanding 2004 WQS campaign in Australia where she placed ninth, followed by a fourth-place finish at the four-star Sunsmart Classic in Western Australia and a third at the four-star SG's Queen of the Surf in California.

Clark's disappointing WCT performances have been in stark contrast to her success on the WQS - she placed ninth at three WCT events - Roxy Pro (Australia), Roxy Pro (Fiji) and the Billabong Pro in Tahiti and a fifth place finish at the Roxy Pro in France.