Watch: Championship Tour Surfers Warm Up at Firing Supertubos

Originally posted on SURFER | By August Howell | Last updated Mar 14, 2025 6:21 PM ET

Coin flip, toss up, dice roll, or whatever metaphor you prefer — that’s how it feels whenever a contest comes to Peniche’s Supertubos. Over the past few seasons, when the WSL Championship Tour comes to town, the bag gets more mixed than if it were packed by a red-eyed grocery store clerk.

That’s just the nature of the beast that is powerful beachbreaks. Unlike the prior events, Pipeline and Abu Dhabi, the CT surfers don’t know exactly what the wave will be doing when the waiting period opens. Sandbars can change quickly or not at all. But as CT surfers kept flying into Portugal, the waves got better and better on Supertubos. By Thursday, things were properly firing. Cole Houshmand got one of the best waves of his life, a rifling lefthand cylinder that held him so long it had Mick Fanning commenting, “Kirra in the mirror!”

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A post shared by Cole Houshmand (@cole_houshmand)

Jake Marshall would not be denied side-slipping and outrunning this barrel. Current world No. 1 Italo Ferreira found gold at the golden hour . Meanwhile, Jack Robinson made Supertubos look like Pipeline with this absurd second-bar roll-in. Below, the WSL compiled some of the best rides from a star-studded session on March 13. Consider it a yardstick for your fantasy team.

But will this pattern last? The 10-day event window runs from March 15-25. Word on the street is that Saturday is looking plausible to run the opening rounds. It could be light onshore and about head high with a mid-sized windswell. Then a front moves in, and the south winds start howling, all but ensuring multiple lay days next week. The event may not run until late next week. But the long-term forecast suggests much more favorable weather and west swell in the overhead range next weekend, March 22 and 23.

Whether that materialized remains to be seen. Maybe the sandbar will deteriorate or get even better. Until the day comes, one never truly knows what they’ll pull from the Portuguese bag.

This article first appeared on SURFER and was syndicated with permission.

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