The Rip Curl Pro Portugal is over. Julian

Wilson is the winner. The World Title race

looks much the same as it did two weeks ago

with four strong contenders. The Sardine is

about to go out of print. This is our last

edition. But the Scratch Journals will be

back in a new incarnation at another contest.

Mike may write it. I hope he does. I like

Mike. He’s a good writer and a nice man. I

think about the past two weeks and it seems

like a lifetime of living. We saw raw ocean

and raw emotion. That was an accidental rhyme

and it kinda looks stupid but to heck with

it, nobody cares about anything but the next

comp, the next girl, the next broken heart.

Obrigado Portugal. Au revoir Paris. Thank

you Rip Curl Pro you wonderfully delicious

distraction. – VB

OBRIGADO

JULIAN & DOUG – WINNERS

Doug would tell me Julian’s was the first

car in the car park parked in front of

his designated surfboard every single day

of the Rip Curl Pro Portugal. Doug would

also tell me Julian’s car was also the

last to leave the car park at the end of

every day. Doug would tell me that during

the event Julian rode giant barrels and

stomped huge aerials. Doug would tell me

Julian scored one of the best 10 point

rides of the event in the very next heat

after Kelly Slater couldn’t find a wave

worth more than a four. Doug would tell me

that when he wasn’t surfing Julian would

sit up in the competitor’s area all day

looking down upon the 30 girls who had

made up signs saying “JULIAN. GIVE ME

YOUR T-SHIRT. BOARD. HAT” He’d listen

to them chant all day “WE LOVE YOU!” And

he’d get up and walk down to his fans and

sign autographs and pose for photos and

give them boards he’d snapped, contest

rashies, hats and most important of all…

time. Doug would tell me that all of

these things meant that Julian Wilson

would win his very first WCT event at the

Rip Curl Pro Portugal. And guess what?

Doug was right.

…the big crazy trademark claws on

the board Owen Wright rode through

yesterday’s 10 point thunder hole

were drawn by none other than the

free wheelin’ musical longhair art

hippy pro surfer guy Ozzie Wright?

The O Wright’s spent time together

in Bali earlier this year where Owen

asked Oz to decorate one of his sleds.

Oz did his take on the famed Owen

claw signature spray with a giant

rainbow sleeved monster hand throwing

a peace sign. The medium? Posca Pen

on fiberglass. As East 17 once said…

“It’s really O Wright.” LOL.

DID YOU KNOW…

THE GIRLS

They’ve got Brazilian bodies with eastern

European eyes and every time I meet a girl

in the country I pretty much fall in love

with her instantly. They’re captivating.

THE MAYOR

The mayor of Peniche is an absolute legend.

he’s the happiest man in the world and it

feels like he’s your grandpa who you haven’t

seen for five years when he says hello.

SUPERTUBOS

It breaks so close to the beach and my

favourite thing in the world is being able

to get barrelled and then not have to paddle

very far to get back out.

THE CROWD

It’s the most amped and frenzied crowd of

anywhere on tour by far. They just go mental

whenever anyone does anything. If you built

a sandcastle on the beach instead of surfing

your heat they’d cheer you the whole time.

It’s amazing.

THE ART

There’s a lot of street art in portugal that’s

insane. Like brand new art on centuries old

buildings. I like that meeting of old and

new. Si man!

MATT WILKINSON’S FIVE FAVOURITE THINGS ABOUT PORTUGAL

Heartbreak. I felt it this week. I felt it for Tiago. I felt it for

Wilko. I even felt it for Kelly, Mick and Joel. Mostly I felt it for

myself. But I didn’t feel heartbreak for Gabby Medina yesterday.

Say what you will about the final scores (surfing is subjective so

everyone will make up their own minds about who won the final)

but Gabby had priority with a minute to go and got suckered into

paddling for a two foot heapa. Julian made a superior tactical

play, gave himself an opportunity to win and took full advantage of

it. Gabby was upset. He’d lost a close one. The smashing of lockers

and the karate kicking of board racks I could understand. He’s a

competitive kid. He lives and breathes surfing and competition. He’d

been the standout performer all week and a clear crowd favourite.

He’d won the expression session and Moche $3000 power round for the

highest score in round four. Losing the final hit him hard and he

needed to let off steam. Top athletes often do. But then to walk off

stage during the presentation leaving Julian standing there with a

bottle of champagne to spray all over himself? I’m sorry man but

that shiz is whack sportsmanship. A champion knows how to win AND

lose. Gabby is a champion of the future no doubt, but yesterday he

came off looking like a spoiled child.

HEARTBREAK

HOW MANY PEOPLE DOES IT TAKE TO RUN A WCT EVENT?

This is the cast and crew of the Rip Curl Pro Portugal. In some way every single one of these people contributed to you being able to enjoy this event. Memorise their faces and tell them “obregado” next time you see them.

The Sardine was the first of what

will be many volumes of Scratch

Journals – a collaborative digital

zine made by the heartbroken and

unwashed peoples of Coastalwatch

and Surfing World. The past ten

issues of digital turned print

turned digital again… all for

the nonsensical coverage of the

beautiful sport of surfing… well

all that was made possible by the

good people at Rip Curl and the

sweat and tears of the grom and

his PC computer layout machine.

Obrigado.

On Location Editor – Vaughan Blakey

Editor – Mike Jennings

Art Director – Alex Beveridge

Associate Editor – Nick Gregory,

Dug Lees.

Contributors – Doherty, Owen,

Kirstin, Barnwell, Worldspoon,

Cestari.

– SCRATCH JOURNALS –

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