Carissa Moore was almost speechless when she won her first pro surfing world championship at Biarritz, France, in 2011.

She was “thrilled” to win her second second world title at Guincho, Portugal, in 2013.

But you want to see really stoked?

That would be Moore winning her third World Surf League championship at Honolua Bay when the Maui Target Pro opens today, surf permitting.

“I’d love to win it at home in front of my entire family,” Moore said in an email interview. “This past week, I’ve felt a lot of love and support from all the people here (on Maui) and I can’t wait to put the jersey on.”

The yellow jersey, symbolizing her No. 1 position in the point standings, is Moore’s entering this, the 10th and final event of the Women’s 2015 Samsung Galaxy Championship Tour.

Truth be told, it is something she’s pointedly had in front of her since this time last year, when the tour debuted on Maui and she was out of the running for the world championship.

She won the inaugural Maui Target Pro, but her triumph propelled Stephanie Gilmore to the world title over Tyler Wright while Moore finished third for the year.

“It is always a goal every year to be in contention (for the world championship) by the last event,” Moore said.

Undoubtedly more so when, after criss-crossing the globe for eight months, the grand finale is held in local waters, not a dozen time zones away.

Her determination to put herself in a position to make Maui really mean something this time was evident in the running start she took into 2015. Moore won the first two events of the year in Australia and finished no lower than third over the first four competitions.

The diesel drive to hone her skills and ferocity for competition has been part of her makeup since becoming the youngest world champ at age 18 fresh out of Punahou School. But what is different this year is that she has increasingly been able to temper it and not dwell on disappointments and setbacks as sometimes seemed to be the case in close losses last year.

The new outlook has served her well this year, especially as she has picked up a rival in California’s Courtney Conlogue. Across Australia, Brazil, Fiji, California, Portugal and France they have waged an intense event-by-event competition, pushing each other and trading the points lead, with each winning three of the nine events so far.

Moore regained it and the yellow jersey last month in France.

Conlogue is bidding for her first world title, and the two 23-year-olds, who were born two days apart in 1992, are separated by a mere 900 points (59,500-58,600) in the standings.

Moore said, “It would mean so much to me (to win a third world title). I put in a lot of hard work, heart and passion into surfing and competing and I know it would feel great to see it all pay off.”

“It is just great to have this opportunity,” Moore said.

Especially when it comes in the home waters.

———

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.