Surfing, Skateboarding, Music, Photography, Travel, Culture and general antics of the youth on the run.

How we met Yago Dora Yago’s success at the Rio Pro is validating something we’ve known for a long time. Let’s recall.

what youth off beat yago dora surfing

Long before the WSL started with the weird warrior techno hype video things, we were watching Yago Dora. His surfing caught our eye, but it was his vibe, his personality, his approach that really stuck with us. In What Youth Issue 13 we recall his ability to jump in our big white van and road trip and how blown away we were with his ability to roll with it. Now he more or less terrifies guys on trips because he’s so damn good, and so damn rad.

From What Youth Issue 13: 

Yago’s family is beautiful. His father is tall and dark and handsome and apparently rips. He wears a Volcom printed tee and a hat and a watch and sunglasses. He is strapping. Strong. Stern. But very friendly. His sisters and mother are beautiful and smiley too. While we purchase gas station coffee and sewer-meat sandwiches across the street, Yago finishes his Denny’s quesadilla and we load him and his stuff into our van. I take down his father’s phone number into my phone and vice versa. They embrace and hug and I quickly realize we have a young man with us. A very young man. Our filmer Blake Myers looked over at me, “Wow, I haven’t seen a father and son goodbye hug for a trip in a long time. That was a rad.” 

We pull out of the parking lot and onto Century Blvd. Andrew takes a swig of his pineapple and malibu vape pen. I begin to worry about Yago. Is he regretting this already? One glimpse in the rearview mirror shows otherwise, smiling and happy to be on the road and up for anything. “Should we surf somewhere?” he asks. That would be the first of a million times that questions is asked by Yago. He surfs. He is not here for the lifestyle. And we couldn’t love him for it anymore. From there we were off to Malibu to pick up Brendon Gibbens and Dillon Perillo. 

Lots of dudes surf really well in this life, and lots of dudes can make heats, but it’s nice to see someone get a shot in the comp who deserves success in every arena. Yago is one of those dudes. So we’re enjoying his march through just about everyone in Rio.

Let’s look at back at some Yago and What Youth highlights:

Our first visions: Adolescents part:

This is Us: San Francisco

Hello, Sea:

what youth dylan rieder rest in piece

Dylan Rieder: 1988-2016 R.I.P. to one of the greatest of all time

It’s strange to type this. Hard to believe what the keys are putting down, but Dylan Rieder has passed away from complications with leukemia. He was 28 years old. Dylan’s influence is ingrained so very deeply in skateboarding and everything he touched, and forever will be. Happy to have had the pleasure to spend time…

france, travis ferre

I’m Home! But Have No Idea Where I am After a month in the Old World, I’ve returned to a disheveled homeland

I just got home from a few weeks away. I think it’s called holiday. Or vacation. Depending where you’re from. First one I’ve ever tried. And holy shit do I recommend it. I surfed beautiful waves in Portugal, strolled ancient streets of Lisbon, ate extremely well in San Sebastián, biked through a forest in France…

“There are no beers for Media” Another downtrodden day for the WSL press corps

It was Sunday. I felt like watching surfing and I am fortunate to live within a stone throw of a ‘CT venue that shall remain anonymous, but it is in Europe, is not in Portugal and is within a country renowned for cheese and wine. You get the picture. Some friends and I have media…

Peter Hook and the Light at the Wiltern And we all danced

If you don’t like at least one song by Joy Division or New Order than you’re probably a liar. The thing about both of these bands is that they are so prominent in music of various genres. Whether you like it or not, we hear them everyday in our favorite bands. The extent of their influence…

what youth black sabbath music live concert

Black Sabbath played last night at the Hollywood Bowl For those who don’t want “The End” to end

Black Sabbath played last night at the Hollywood Bowl, and I was there, lucky beyond any measure, to have witnessed what they’re calling their last tour ever, appropriately and painfully called “The End.” With almost all original members on stage – Prince of Darkness Ozzy, Godfather of Metal Tony Iommi, and bass legend Geezer Butler…

taj burrow, surfing

The Tour Without Taj It’s like a sad Friday night in

I’m about to walk down the trail at Lowers to watch the contest. Live. Yep, fuck it, I wanna watch some surfing. And make sure there is still free beer at contests. I remember Jay Larson said he surfed because there was “Free beer at contests” in an old issue of Surfer Magazine. I need…

what youth hunter martinez surfing photography

Hurricane Hermine Hunt Photographer Hunter Martinez took us on his recent hurricane chase

Being from the West Coast, hurricanes — at least the ones they get in the east — are exciting. They seem to change and move and shift and are all sorts of unpredictable (and dangerous). And because of that, it’s not rare to score all by yourself if you’re persistent. It’s also really easy to…

what youth issue 15 launch party

Issue 15 party in the desert Full-moon skinny dips, The Paranoyds and a new issue of What Youth in the desert

At one point last night I looked around and everyone was either in just underwear or swimming in the ACE pool with all their clothes on. The moon was full. The Paranoyds had just blown our minds and HUF and Richer Poorer had kitted everyone out with gear, and then we were swimming. We were nowhere…

Metal Neck and the Olympics What an interesting day it has been

Last night Metal Neck II: The Bangover was released. And of course, we fucking loved it. A classic (and free!) give-no-fucks throwback independent surf vid starring a lot of our friends and a few wild characters including Christian Fletcher, Muffin Man, Noa, Droid, Colin Moran and more. And wouldn’t you know it, the awkward little…

what youth surfing padang padang mason ho

Mega Semadhi wins the Padang Cup A Contest We can definitely get behind

The Padang Cup has always been one of the few contests that we can get behind. The dudes who come out to go left and get tubed at one of our favorite waves are always a perfect mix of local standouts and global superheros like Bruce Irons, Mason Ho and Damien Hobgood and more. The…

The same day in Amsterdam and Paris Europe for the Brixton Broadcast and a bit of radical class tourism

Paris is far too big to seen properly in one day, yet so damn pretty you can feel like you did. And we’re here, right now, but not for long. As is too often the case. We were in Amsterdam last weekend and then Paris. A few nights ago, we watched and documented the Brixton Broadcast…

what youth dear suburbia us open

Surf movie premiere season The US Open of Surfing isn’t just underage drinking and drawing

The US Open of Surfing doesn’t just mean no parking, terrible traffic, underage drinking and drawing, the Huntington Hop, overcrowded lineups, MMA flexing and heavily policed streets. It also means premiering new surf movies. And although it may not be the same grandiose events that used to take place in front of the Shorebreak Hotel…

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