A baby, a buggy and new perspectives with Taj Burrow

Words by Morgan Williamson 

Taj Burrow took a break from the circuit. He and the lovely Rebecca Jobson had a baby girl last month and he’s tackling a new chapter in his life; “being a dad’s going really great. I’m absolutely loving it,” Taj tells Stab. “Definitely a few rough nights here and there but it’s all good.” So in honor of his grom being on the way, he and Matt “Mayhem” Biolos whipped up a fresh piece of foam for the impending fatherhood. “He has a few models,” says Mr Biolos. “The Whiplash which is just a basic CT board, it doesn’t really sell much. His other model is the Beach Buggy. Taj told me to make the Beach Buggy shorter and wider. We called it the Baby Buggy because at the time we were designing it his girlfriend was pregnant. It’s a squashed down version, the name just seemed fitting.”

“I never really get the opportunity to ride little fun boards like the Baby Buggy,” Mr Burrow continues. “I just wanted something that made surfing easy, and that’s what it does. You get so much speed and it’s so much fun to ride. I wanted to mix it up a bit. All too often you can get stale on the normal short board.”

The beautiful Arabella Rose in her mother’s arms.

“It was all Taj’s brainchild,” says Matt. “He said make me play board. It was something I shaped for him that’d make you want to go surf shitty waves. After 18 years on the CT sometimes you just want to go out and have some fun.” With his little girl just hitting one month old, Mr Burrow’s spending more time around home. “Being away from the tour for a bit has been incredible,” says Taj. “Portugal looked pretty shitty overall, so I wasn’t too bummed missing it. I’m really excited for winter in Hawaii though.”

“I sent one out to Tahiti with Strider (Wasileswski) after Taj’s early exit from the Teahupoo comp. He got back to me so stoked on it. It was the best feedback a shaper could get,” says Mayhem. “‘That little board is ludicrous,’ he sent me in a text. ‘I just surfed a soft little beachy here in Tahiti and the thing went bananas.’”

Our dear Taj has got a bit more on his plate than previous years. A new model to screw around on, a beautiful little girl and the next thing we know Pipe will be as soon as now. “Things changed pretty dramatically. We don’t have the freedom we did. As soon as we left the hospital we had this little peanut in our arms and were like so this is our responsibility now?” says Mr Burrow. “I can’t stop looking at her. Priorities and responsibilities have changed and it’s definitely for the better. I’m absolutely loving it.”