“Da Bull”: Poster boy of big wave surfing dies at 84 We’re sorry, this service is currently unavailable. Please try again later. Dismiss July 10, 2021 — 2.46pm Normal text size GREG NOLL: 1937–2021 Greg Noll, who has died aged 84, became the first poster boy of big wave surfing, and in 1969 he famously surfed Hawaii’s biggest ever swell. Nicknamed “Da Bull” for his fearlessness and stocky bodybuilder’s physique, Noll was one of a group of Californian longboarders who migrated to the North Shore of the Hawaiian island of Oahu in the 1950s in search of the perfect wave. Surfing great Greg Noll on his deck at home that overlooks the Smith River near Crescent City.