Nine events in on the 2017 World Qualifying Series and a Brazilian currently leads the ratings. That’s nothing new. Brazil has become a bonafide competitive powerhouse in recent years, and they don’t look like slowing down any time soon. What is new is the name that currently occupies that top spot. Or, not just the name, but the cut of the surfer. You see, Yago Dora is not Brazilian Storm. He’s not your typical Gabriel Medina or Filipe Toledo, although his repertoire above the lip is very much comparable. He is instead a young Brazilian who’s spent the last few years building a reputation as a stylish and innovative freesurfer, one who’s managed to gain a fan base not just in Brazil but with surfers around the globe, and that in itself is a pretty big achievement.
Now that same freesurfing sensation is taking his act to the QS in the hope of making the big leagues. And judging by the way in which he dominated the Maitland and Port Stephens Toyota Pro, he doesn’t plan on doing it in the same win-at-any-cost fashion that many of his compatriots have become famous for, but rather, with the kind of loose, momentum-building energy that characterises a good freesurf, which is equally as dangerous. In many ways the path he’s taking is more akin to that of Dane or Julian than any of the Brazilians already on the CT. Pro surfing being a young and still developing sport in South America, the traditional trajectory of the Brazilian pro has been to get on tour as soon as possible and do everything in their power to try and win a world title. Which is fine, there’s nothing wrong with being passionate and driven, but unfortunately it has helped accentuate the inaccurate and grossly exaggerated stereotype that Brazilian surfers are overzealous, over-competitive, and lacking in soul and style. With Yago comes a new path, a new style, and it shows that—much like it has in Australia, the US and Hawaii over the last twenty years—the sport of professional surfing is changing in Brazil, which is undeniably positive.
Of course, there’s still a long year ahead and Yago might not make the cut, might instead go back to posting impressive web clips of himself freesurfing around the globe and once again scoring the highly-coveted final section in Volcom’s next surf video. But it seems unlikely. Because like all good freesurfers, the kid has roots in competitive surfing, and with dad Leandro being one of the best surf coaches in Brazil (he played a decisive role in getting Adriano de Souza to a world title), Yago has good people helping him bring his freesurfing act to competition.
It sounds strange, doesn’t it? The renowned freesurfer with the surf coach father. But that’s professional surfing in Brazil right now—shifting, developing, changing.
And Yago Dora is just the start of that.
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