Greg Noll, swaggering big-wave surfer known as ‘Da Bull,’ dies at 84 Harrison Smith Riding waves at Waimea Bay, the dangerous and revered surf break on Oahu’s North Shore, Greg Noll would orient himself by triangulating with two local Hawaiian landmarks, a church steeple and a cemetery. Guided by those symbols of God and death, he dropped in on enormous waves that threatened to explode on top of him, crashing down with a roar that could be heard a mile away. Mr. Noll, a former California lifeguard, was widely credited with leading the opening charge at Waimea, helping to extinguish a taboo that had persisted since 1943, when surfer Dickie Cross drowned while trying to make his way to shore. After more than a decade in which surfers avoided the break, Mr. Noll and a few others paddled out in November 1957, dropping in on 15-foot waves and showing that it was possible to ride there without being crushed to death or pulled out to sea in a riptide.
LOS ANGELES Greg “Da Bull” Noll, who became a surfing legend by combining a gregarious, outsized personality with the courage and skill to ride bigger, more powerful waves than anyone had ever attempted, has died. He was 84.
Noll, who had lived in the picturesque, seaside town of Crescent City, California, died Monday of natural causes, according to an Instagram post from his son s company, Noll Surfboards. Requests for comment from the Noll family were not immediately returned, and it was not clear where he died.
One of the first and arguably one of the greatest big-wave riders, Noll was much more than a surfer. He was also an entrepreneur who helped transform the sport with his Greg Noll surfboards, which were among the first to be built from balsa wood, a substance that made them more maneuverable and light enough for most people to use.
He also appeared in numerous surfing documentaries, worked as a photographer on the 1967 film “Surfari” and was the stunt double for James Mitchum in the 1964 film “Ride the Wild Surf.” In 2010, he and his son Jed launched a surf apparel line.
It was the towering waves he caught, coupled with a blunt but friendly manner, that made Noll’s reputation.
From the early 1950s through the 1960s, he traveled from Southern California to Mexico, Australia and the North Shore of Hawaii’s island of Oahu in search of the biggest waves.
It was in October 1957, at Waimea Bay on Oahu’s North Shore, where he led a handful of surfers to a place where the waves can reach three stories high in the winter. The bay was said to be impossible to surf, and residents claimed nobody had tried since a young California surfer, Dickie Cross, had been killed there in 1943.
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File- This Oct. 12, 2009, file photo shows Greg Noll joining 10 athletes, coaches and a broadcaster that were inducted into San Pedro s Sportswalk To The Waterfront in. Noll, who had lived in the picturesque, seaside town of Crescent City, Calif., died Monday, June 28, 2021 of natural causes, according to an Instagram post from his son s company, Noll Surfboards.
Scott Varley - member image share, The Orange County Register
File-Greg Noll is seen during his induction to the 2006 Surfers Hall of Fame in Huntington Beach, Calif. Noll, who had lived in the picturesque, seaside town of Crescent City, California, died Monday, June 28, 2021, of natural causes, according to an Instagram post from his son s company, Noll Surfboards.
By JOHN ROGERS
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) â Greg âDa Bullâ Noll, who became a surfing legend by combining a gregarious, outsized personality with the courage and skill to ride bigger, more powerful waves than anyone had ever attempted, has died. He was 84.
Noll, who had lived in the picturesque, seaside town of Crescent City, California, died Monday of natural causes, according to an Instagram post from his son s company, Noll Surfboards. Requests for comment from the Noll family were not immediately returned, and it was not clear where he died.
One of the first and arguably one of the greatest big-wave riders, Noll was much more than a surfer. He was also an entrepreneur who helped transform the sport with his Greg Noll surfboards, which were among the first to be built from balsa wood, a substance that made them more maneuverable and light enough for most people to use.