The Art of Surfing: 10 Of The Greatest Big Wave Surfers In History

Greg Noll

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Greg Noll sizing up third reef pipeline- Photo:surf coaches

“Da Bull.” Greg Noll is larger than life. The stories he tells and the things he has seen first hand are the stuff of legend. He built a reputation as a hard partying, hard charging stubborn sonofabitch in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He was among the first wave of Californians who ventured to the North Shore of Oahu to concur the huge waves of Sunset and Waimea Bay. In fact he was part of first guys credited with surfing the Bay for the first time. That was 1957.

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Jed and Greg Noll Photo:Surfeurope

Besides being a pioneer in the surf, Noll was one of the first to create a thriving business with his surf shops, surf movies and team rider endorsed surfboards. Today Noll lives in northern California fishing and making replica surfboards for collectors. He stopped surfing after 1969 when it is rumored he caught one of the biggest waves ever ridden at Makaha.