Beau Young grew up with one of the surfing world's most famous and iconic characters, the great Nat Young. Beau and his siblings were all riding waves long before they could actually swim. Surfing as much as humanly possible as a kid was definitely Beau's way of life, before and after school, always ringing wet was the norm. Competitive surfing results came slow, but by his mid to late teens, there was evidence of promise with pro junior finals in France and Portugal. Following the world qualifying series after finishing his schooling, results were mixed. The months on the road and competing with 700 other tour hopefuls took the shine off surfing's attraction for Beau.

When Beau was asked to do a European shop tour with his father and other known longboarders, he was not entirely convinced, being the only shortboarder. However, it was in Italy one early morning with tiny wave conditions that Beau decided to grab a longboard and go for a paddle. It was there and then that Beau fell in love with longboarding. Following in his father's footsteps and becoming an avid longboarder was always going to be a given. Having the Young name, however, was always going to be a tall order in the shadow of his father Nat. Nevertheless, longboarding and its style naturally gelled with Beau, and he never felt the pressure.

Results once again were slow, but the timing couldn't have been better for a competitive longboard career as there was a very large resurgence coming along. In 1998, in the Canary Islands, Beau had his first major breakthrough on the international competitive circuit. At the Canary Islands event, he placed second in the world to his good friend and longboard prodigy Joel Tudor. This result sparked the beginning of an incredible professional longboard career that would go on long after his competition days were over.