OBRIGADO 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
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.
DID YOU KNOW… …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.
MATT WILKINSON’S FIVE FAVOURITE THINGS ABOUT PORTUGAL 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!
HEARTBREAK 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.
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.
– SCRATCH JOURNALS – 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 Kirstin, Cestari.
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Doherty,
Barnwell,
Owen,
Worldspoon,
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