In the end, and despite yesterday's provocations, Supertubos and the snot-green, scrotum-tightening Atlantic did not produce an epic day.

I calculated the window of favourable wind and rapidly rising storm surf at 22 minutes - of which fortune was smiling on the enterprise because Jack Robinson was in the water for that brief window. Following on from four dull women's Quarter-Final heats where the rising swell remained tentative but closeouts somehow still remained common, Jack Robbo found gaping caves, two of which: one left and one right, offered slender exits.

Of the nine heats conducted, only Jack's two consecutive rides elevated the day above a dreary mediocrity. Immediately following Jack's two rides, onshore winds and belligerent storm swells turned Supertubos into a basically unrideable cauldron. No other competitor in those Round of 32 heats was able to garner more than a 5 point ride.

Round of 32...shit! We've been going for days and we're only at the Round of 32!

Robbo (WSL/Geada)

Apart from Callum Robson's 10-point drainer in 2023 - a unicorn wave plucked out of a morass of ugly closeouts - has there been an epic day at Supertubos since it was moved from the fall (October) to early spring (March)? It's starting to seem like a false premise when, year after year, it doesn't deliver anything like its namesake suggests.

A brief recap of the women's Quarter-Finals follows:

Caz Marks found two lefts with more than two turns and was thus able to log a pair of 5-point-plus rides over her opponent, second trimester pregnant Johanne Defay who could only find one-turn waves. It's unclear how many more events Defay plans to surf, although she has expressed a desire to compete again as a mother.

Pickles was canny, competitive, and surgical in execution against Tyler Wright. A scrappy paddle battle to start the heat put plenty of space between the Australians with Tyler surfing short rights and Pickles sticking to longer lefts. The slump of last year seems to have faded for Molly. All the wobbles and yips have been replaced by calm, confident surfing and decision-making. Whether that will be good enough to beat Caity Simmers (0-6 record) remains to be seen.

Pickles (WSL/Masurel)

The much anticipated Simmers/Brooks Quarter was largely a dud. Waves never picked up. Caity spent most of the heat sitting on a 5-point ride - a slippery backwashy left that eluded proper turns - while Brooks took her brash approach to a long left and short punchy right. The contrast in styles between the smooth, retro-futurism of Simmers and the very pure Brazilian approach of Brooks was jarring but in the end Simmers' lack of decent opportunity was definitive.

Gabby Bryan bested Bella Kenworthy in a low-scoring affair as the swell jumped and the lineup verged on the chaotic.

Only one further point of interest to note on an abbreviated day of competition.

Caity Simmers (WSL/Masurel)

While the Brooks/Simmer Quarter was in progress, a Portuguese big wave rider and Patagonia ambassador in the booth, ostensibly spruiked his WSL-supported environmental project Hope Zones. Cool guy doing great things. Most notably a commercial seaweed farm at Nazare which unites the surfing and fishing communities there. Seaweed is incredible; it's ability to pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and convert it to useable biomass while increasing local biodiversity is phenomenal.

The WSL continues to support and align itself with these progressive causes.

Is this a sustainable (to use the jargon) path for the organisation?

There are threats to the integrity of their mission, either accepted at full face-value, or more skeptically as examples of greenwashing.

The major threat, obviously, is fossil fuel guzzling wavepools in the Middle Eastern petro-states. There's not a damn green thing about them - a fact made obvious when not even the WSL could find a green spin on them. Eventual sale or expansion via petro-dollars could cause the WSL green marketing machine to collapse under the weight of its own contradictions.

Liam O'Brien (WSL/Geada)

The other, perhaps more subtle, threat is the general rightwards, reactionary shift led by the US but with offshoots in Europe. Young men in particular are increasingly leaning rightwards, as shown by a photo taken at a recent UFC event with Andrew Tate, manosphere influencer and alleged rapist/trafficker and members of the San Clemente 2 percenters, notable among them current CT-surfer Cole Houshmand.

I make no comment about Tate due to a wilful ignorance (I don't want any of my algorithms being distorted by his junk) other than to note that if even half of what is written about him is correct he seems a vile human and a rotten example for young males to follow. He may be much worse than that.

The point is, as an organisation the WSL may find itself increasingly at odds with its membership. Promoting progressive causes that were politically desirable when Dirk Ziff took over the show but that are now out of favour and not shared by the rank and file athletes or perhaps the new CEO.

Something, in that situation, would have to give.

Bank that thought for now and we'll revisit it in six or twelve months time.

As for Supertubos. With the failure of the current Atlantic storm to deliver an epic day I guess we tune in tonight to see a fading swell under onshore wind, hopefully weak enough to let us plow through some competition before the next storm hits.

// STEVE SHEARER

MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal Presented by Corona Cero Women’s Quarterfinal Results:
HEAT 1: Caroline Marks (USA) 11.10 DEF. Johanne Defay (FRA) 8.60
HEAT 2: Molly Picklum (AUS) 12.93 DEF. Tyler Wright (AUS) 7.93
HEAT 3: Erin Brooks (CAN) 12.67 DEF. Caitlin Simmers (USA) 12.40
HEAT 4: Gabriela Bryan (HAW) 7.70 DEF. Bella Kenworthy (USA) 6.06

MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal Presented by Corona Cero Women’s Semifinal Matchups:
HEAT 1: Caroline Marks (USA) vs. Molly Picklum (AUS)
HEAT 2: Erin Brooks (CAN) vs. Gabriela Bryan (HAW)

MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal Presented by Corona Cero Men’s Round of 32 Results:
HEAT 1: Jack Robinson (AUS) 15.67 DEF. Ian Gentil (HAW) 2.83
HEAT 2: Liam O'Brien (AUS) 9.80 DEF. Crosby Colapinto (USA) 8.40
HEAT 3: Yago Dora (BRA) 7.57 DEF. Samuel Pupo (BRA) 7.10