Forever in the Lineup: Yam Wisman

As the news spread a tremendous outpouring of love rippled throughout the international longboarding community where Yam was a beloved figure whose presence radiated from his home in Brazil throughout the corners of the globe. Yam was a beloved presence at events like the Mexi Log Fest and made an impact in places like California and Indonesia. 

Paddle outs were held in his honor in the Philippines, Mexico, and Brazil.

Joel Tudor

“Yam was such a nice kid man. A talented surfer who was so upbeat and everybody loved to be around. He called me every morning when he was in California to ask if I wanted to surf around home or go up to Malibu, he was frothing. He had just had the best year of his life too, his surfing was really maturing. He was always working to get better and asked me about getting barreled he was so eager to learn. His time in Nias really put him on another level, he progressed a ton. Tosh knew him well too and we’re both very sad to see him go.” 

Izzy Preciado, Mexi Log Fest

“I first heard about Yam Wisman through my friend Caio Teixeira about 6 years ago...

Caio wrote to me, ‘Hey, this kid surfs good and has a lot of potential.’ I asked Caio to tell Yam to submit videos for our annual video contest. During that year’s video contest only Yam and three other kids got a spot for our event. I invited Yam to our event and he was super happy and grateful to be there. Then the event came and I finally saw Yam surfing and I was like yup, Caio was right, this kid is good–like very good!!

His style was vibrant, naturally smooth and every year he kept getting better and better but he was always staying very humble. Yam was the most stoked surfer ever, he was always smiling, super polite, respectful! I loved watching him and his mom coming together to say hi to me as soon as they arrived at the contest, always with big smiles and big hearts.

Yam will always be in our hearts and I will cherish all the moments we spent together. I'm sad he is gone but I am so grateful that I met such a wonderful soul. We’ll miss you hermano.”

Caio Teixeira

“I met Yam in person at a tournament that took place in Jericoacoara, a place where he was a local. Coincidentally, he was celebrating his birthday and having a dinner for close friends; the date was December 13, 2021. It was a fun night, even though I wasn't very close to Yam yet.

But there I saw that Yam was a very dear person, loved by his friends and family. I loved seeing the cultural traditions of Israel; we put him in a chair and lifted him up the number of times he was celebrating his age, that is, we lifted him up 18 times.

It was fun. From then on, Yam became closer to me, he asked me to train him, to help him refine his surfing, he wanted me to host him at my house, film him, analyze his waves and elevate his surfing to a more technical and stylish level. He liked to hear constructive criticism.

He sent me this message: 'because I think your surfing has a lot of style and you understand classic surfing in many ways and details, you've traveled to many places (California) and I've always wanted to evolve, to get out of my comfort zone, for that I need someone who constantly criticizes me and with that I improve, I have to have someone who criticizes me, saying what's good and what's bad and saying what needs to be improved...'

That shocked me, because usually an 18-year-old boy doesn't like being contradicted, or being told he's wrong. I found it intriguing. One thing led to another.

Yam almost always filmed his surf sessions and always sent me the videos so I could analyze them and we could talk about them. He was already, without a doubt, the best nose rider in Brazil, he didn't even realize it. But he wanted to be complete, and he knew that for competitions he needed more than just nose maneuvers; he needed to learn how to make good turns. And that's how we became closer. (The wave at Jericoacoara doesn't have much room for turns) and that hindered anyone who wanted to be complete. At a certain point, through our exchange of messages, sporadic meetings at events and surf trips, an opportunity arose for me to make his surfboards.

We drafted a contract, specifying the number of surfboards, with the terms of an official sponsorship partnership. I found myself under a certain amount of pressure because I don't usually make surfboards for athletes, and at that moment, Yam was hyper-focused on competitions, training hard every day, meditating, exercising, eating very well, not eating red meat, and not liking to party while competing.

He was exceptional. Yam came to my house around that time, we developed some boards, and they were all focused on helping him improve his turns. He was so focused, so intense, that his turns were perfected and refined very quickly. When the turns were becoming easy to do, he already wanted to move to the next level, he wanted to learn how to get barreled.

He kept asking me to take him to my hometown, Cabo Frio, to see Peró beach, famous for its greenish tubes and strong winds. It couldn't have been better; the Duct Tape event was in Brazil, and he asked me to introduce him to the "foreigners." I kept laughing and saying, "Hang with me, and I'll introduce you!" (laughs). He was running around the event with everyone, taking photos, recording videos, surfing, dancing, and not just him, but I think we were all on the same wavelength. It was the best event of our lives. And to top it off, after the event, the tube waves he wanted so much finally arrived. We caught some fun waves, around 2 meters high. In the water were David Arganda, Kevin Skvarna, Steven Sawyer, Phil Rajzman, and the two of us. He was once again hyper-focused on getting a good tube, but surfing a beach break, you never know if the tube will actually happen. The tube he wanted and the photo he wanted didn't happen at that moment. He was disappointed. From then on, his motto was, "I need to learn how to ride a tube," and from there he sought out role models like our friend Alexandre Wolthers, one of the greatest tube riders in the world and one of the most stylish.

Yam stuck to Uncle Wolthers, he didn't want curves anymore, it was all about the TUBE.

He was unstoppable, his energy was always at a million miles an hour, always eager to surf, whether the waves were small, big, choppy, offshore, tubular, or closing out, Yam's thing was being in the water. Yam lifted me up, motivated me, gave me a few nudges saying I ate too much red meat, also told me I needed to have a planner with my annual goals and that I needed to meditate. He was special.

Our surfboard partnership ended, and he headed to California in search of someone who could give him the support he needed; from there, he went out into the world.

An important point in the meantime is that surf competitions in Brazil never understood Yam's surfing; they never judged his surfing the way it should have been judged. His switched stance was unique; he did things that nobody else did, and no judge understood the degree of difficulty of those maneuvers. The competitions here were too small for him. In Mexilog, he found himself, with boys who had the same skills as him and who pushed his level higher. He loved that, having people who surfed better or as well as him.

So he went and met a lot of people, from then on the story takes other turns, he went to Bali, spent a long time there, and from then on, we kept in touch mostly through messages, and I saw in that 18-year-old boy that he was extraordinarily focused. He learned to get barreled and rode tubes that most surfers in the world will never have the pleasure of. Yam became a complete surfer, he was the best noserider in Brazil, he made well-executed turns, learned to ride excellent tubes and had a huge heart.

As Tunico said, "ANGELS DON'T BELONG TO THIS PLANE"

Rest in peace, my friend."

Gratitude

An immense gratitude goes out to all the friends who have honored his memory with their contributions. A special thank you goes out to Yam's brother, Ofek, for all that he's done in supporting the transition and keeping it together for the family and community. Big thanks to Mike Oida for all his support on the ground. Also, to photographers Dom Stone and Chase Viken.