Bronte surfer Kelly Gamblin thought his first Mentawai Islands boat trip was falling to pieces after he popped up from a Rags Right bomb with his Big Horse in half.
Funnily enough, Gamblin was talking to Tai ‘Buddha’ Graham, the mastermind behind JS’ latest tube shooter, only moments earlier in the line up, and it was Buddha that called him into that wave.
“I’m here with my eldest son Kahu, he’s only seven,” Bali-based Buddha said. “Plus my dad, my best mate Austin, his boy and a couple of close mates. It’s a magical annual trip, outside of the strike missions, more of a fun one.”
After a tube-filled morning at Greenbush, one of Indo’s most iconic left hand slabs, Gamblin and co headed south in hope of an uncrowded arvo session at Rags Right.
He wasn’t alone, and a flotilla of surf charters also made the two hour crossing to the fast right hander, including Buddha and his crew on the Bintang charter boat.
“I paddled out just before dark and there was a bit of a pack on it,” Buddha continued. “I ended up saying ‘hi’ to this lad, then noticed the red stringer on his board.”
“I was buzzing. Always get stoked seeing someone on that board because I know how much they’ll love it. He said it felt amazing in the barrel, just really good under his feet.”
It’s a red stringer that was purposely designed to make sure the Big Horse sticks out in the line up. Buddha and JS have been collaborating on the Big Horse for a few years, with the first models coming out of JS’ Gold Coast shaping house in early 2024.
While many think it’s more of a step-up or a semi-gun, Buddha says you can ride it in your normal shortboard dimensions, just a little thicker, and it will just go! From fun three-foot rags to six-foot HT’s, even ten-foot Nias, the design is purely built around chasing good barrels.
“It was a busy afternoon out there,” Gamblin said, “but we stuck it out, and as the arvo glass-off rolled in there was only a handful of us left at the peak.”
“It was a Friday night about six months before the trip that some mates and I enjoyed a few beers and watched his clip explaining the details of the Big Horse… Eight of us pulled the trigger and ordered that night.”
“It was pretty cool to see him out there and chat to him, next thing I know he’s calling me into a set and I pop up with the board in two.
“I think the whole line up had a bit of a laugh, and Tai had his head in his hands haha!”
Buddha was quick to start asking questions and soon worked out Gamblin was staying on the Ocean Dream.
Within minutes – and without even waiting for another wave – he signaled to his tender for a ride back to his boat to fetch a brand new, Bintang red Big Horse to donate to the long time Bronte Boardrider.
“I was gutted for him,” Buddha said, “I’d brought a heap of boards with me, fresh batch straight from JS, so I knew I had to hook him up with a new one.
“Honestly, I just love seeing people froth on the Big Horse. Doesn’t matter if it’s a pro, an underground charger, a mate or a punter who just wants some paddle power, everyone I speak to loves it,” Buddha said.
“But to share one with Kel, see how stoked he was riding it, then to get a freshie, and that half his boat were on the Big Horse and were watching clips before the trip, that’s the best feeling.
“He even sent over a few cartons of beer afterwards as a thank you in return.”
The next day, Gamblin got one of the waves of his life… With the clip to prove it.
