I’m looking for info on my Greg Noll “Da Cat” surfboard. I rode it a few times in the 1980’s in Rhode Island and now live on the West Coast. What is this board designed for? Would I be better getting a newer longboard? Am I gonna break it if I ride it? Does a board get brittle or lose strength with age? Can anybody tell me the year it was made? I’ve thought of selling it or trading for new boards for me and my kids. Should I hang it on the wall or ride it?
It’s so old it’s practically worthless. The technology has evolved so much now days.
For you and your kids I’ll trade you this Knoll board for a couple of new and improved softtop boards that are very safe for youngsters and a Surftech for youself. BTW, Surftech are the pinnacle of surfboard technology and have practically replaced the outdated materials in your Cat board. They are so strong I can ship them to you without protection (saw this in a Surftech ad).
Send me a private message so we can agree to shipping terms.
If it’s in top condition, black, and original, it could be worth up to a few grand. So you decide whether to ride or hang it.
Made in about 1965 if memory serves, and to this day the print ad campaign which launched the board remains an epic standout withing the surf industry. My understanding is that Mickey never really rode the board personally. Basically, just pioneer surf marketing at its best.
Drop it off at my house tomorrow and I’ll give you a cup of coffee and talk some story in trade. Dude…keep it or sell it to someone who will appreciate it!
If I’m not mistaken, there was just a tread about this very shape board that was on e-bay. It originated in New Jersey (Gods Country), and ended up in Florida and sold for ~ $4000.00, if I’m not mistaken. I for one remember trashing the e-bay thing, but think it is worth what you think it’s worth. You could probably buy a whole new quiver of boards for a good sale or trade.
Additionally, if there is no sentimental value attached to the board, go ahead and sell it for enough cash that you could have 4 or 5 great boards that you will be REALLY stoked on and use.
The wall hanging thing is, in my opinion, overrated and blown out of proportion. It could be a wonderful opportunity to enrich your surfing for many years to come.
I’ll trade you new boards for the next 20 yrs. or rest of your life surfing life which ever comes first. Any shape or color. And yes the deal is transferable to your off spring, as long as they are surfing. Let’s deal!
Hang it on the wall, with mebbe a chain or two around it. Maybe a small squad of ninjas concealed among the house plants to keep it from getting grubby fingerprints on it, let alone some of the old Malibu crew stealing the thing. On a wall that isn’t in direct sunlight, by the way. Handle with care.
For a collector, it has all the boxes checked. Good, white foam, good color, fabric inlays on both deck and in those bottom grooves that in theory made it noseride real good, no real damage, original fin in good shape.
As a ‘user’ - it’s not a great board. Da Cat was Da Dog. Didn’t turn especially well, those bottom slots didn’t really work for noseriding. And why risk the Very Good condition it’s in, as the collector’s market goes, when you could swap it for ten…yes, ten… relatively low-end production modern longboards. One ding, hit one rock and bugger up the fin, sun baking it brown on top of your car- well, there goes the price of two modern production longboards, whoof, gone, bye bye.
You already have it, paid for, and you’ll never find another one, especially as it goes back a long way for you. I’d hang onto it and get some new boards that won’t mean as much to you…and hang onto them too, 'cos they might mean as much to your kids someday.
Thanks to everyone for the insights. Some people see the intrinsic value of owning a board like this and others see a dollar value or an opportunity to rip me off. Its not like I have no clue of its dollar value. I just don’t want to ruin it surfing, I don’t know how well a board like this holds up. It would be a crime for me to trash it.
In the early to mid 1980’s when I surfed it regularly, most surfers thought I was a weanie while they tore it up on their short boards. I’ve never wanted to be thrashing about on the wave (though I can respect their skill) I just wanted to ride the waves and cruise. Longboard, that’s my style. Now this board has respect. Go figure.
I guess I’ll do some soul searching and negotiating with my wife why I need a new board.
Naw, man, nobody here’d rip ya off, they’re just goofing on your good fortune…though that’s more than I’d say for about 95% of the board collectors out there. In fact, of quite a few serious board collectors I know, there’s maybe ( maybe ) just one I’d trust around the corner with ten cents worth of bird seed. And that’s on one of his better days - he sells used cars for a living. The rest of them, they’d lie, collude and fabricate falsehoods at the drop of a hat.
There’s a few of the larger auctions ( not e-Bay, but some Surfrider charity auctions and the like ) that’d be a good gauge of what that board should sell for. With the Tech IPOs making something of a comeback, I’d suspect that you’ll see a nice little spike in ‘collector grade’ board prices in a year or two, as that’s what drove it last time - tech millionaires who decided to collect surfboards and etc.
Tell the wife that the board has appreciated ( but not how much, as you never know what could happen, and I am just the boy it happened to) , it’s a collector’s item that will keep going up ahead of inflation ( which is true) and that it might make a substantial chunk of at least one kid’s college education someday ( also true ) . Plus harp on the sentimental value…maybe do that first.
Don’t tell her about the boxes full of baseball cards, comic books and such that you also have stashed away … and label them something like Family History so they don’t get tossed when she decides to clean the attic.
So where in Rhody did ya hang out? We might know some of the same people…
it sounds like both of you guys (Doc/Luthah) are originally from the Ocean State. Perhaps we’ve ridden a few at Conant? I grew up in 'Gansett. Where are you guys from? Ever surf down that way?
Dora has reached legendary status, especially since his death, but mainly because of his rebel style and cynical attitude at the birth of the modern surfing era in the early 60s. When da cat joined up with da bull with this particular board it made history. The young guys that didn’t grow up during the 60s can’t relate any more than we can relate to things going on today, but the 60s were a time like no other in modern history with incredible changes. Noll’s “da cat” surfboard represents that era and is therefore why it is such a collector’s board.
I have a board shaped by Mike Hynsen which is signed as a tribute to “da cat”. It is one of only five such boards he shaped and I’ll keep it as a “hanger” because both of those guys were heroes in my teenage life. Though their personal lives can be argued as successful or not, they each influenced us at the time perhaps more than anyone else in America if you were a surfer.
Now that the nostalgic flow has upped the price a few thousand dollars more, consider a few more points before you build the wall hanging racks. Those boards were a dime a dozen. They didn’t surf that great, and if you did surf it as you said you might, don’t worry about the potential damage. It will still be in original condition if you make repairs, this is still it’s first lifetime you know. You have to realize that the guys that pay the big bucks for these items are usually in a position to write off their purchase, or have a huge disposable income. The restaurateurs and corporate guys pay out the market price, and then some.
If I had the opportunity, my money would go to buying high end new boards, the likes of Gene Coopers, Tylers, or custom Wayne Rich’s with the old school glass schedules. The glass work on these new boards is a significantly better value, and if you were smart, you’d put one or two away in a board bag for twenty years or so and see the value in that.
Certainly, I’m playing the devil’s advocate here, but if you don’t have the attachment to the personal history, don’t get all caught up in the thing. Good luck w/ your situation, and have fun w/it what ever you do.
easternpacific. Let me add Hap, Lance Carson, and Dale Velzy, Reanie Yeater, and Mike Eaton to your list. These are the guys that started surfing as we know it. An old board is worth as much as you can get for it. If you surf keep surfing, If you can’t surf collect, If your are too poor to collect teach surfing. Those are the rules acorrding to bagman.
Its all about karma. I received the board in 1984 from my girlfriend’s grandfather. I chopped a cord of wood for him and I refused money as compensation. He then pulled the board out of his shed. He gave it to me as thanks. We had no idea that it would be a collectible 20 years later.
I surfed it regularly for about 5 years. Been in storage the last 15 years. Maybe I’ll give it to my son or daughter as a graduation gift. They show interest in surfing now. We’ll see.
The value was unknown to me a few weeks ago. I emailed some pics to a surfing buddy in Georgia who was curious what my longboard was. A little internet surfing for history on the board revealed the collectibility of it. For me its just been a cool old board.
I grew up in Massachusetts but spent a good deal of my summers at the beach. Newport and Narragansett (lots of those beer signs) Nauset Beach on the 'Cape and Old Orchard Beach area in Maine. We had friends who had summer place or would take long vacations. I thought that the water in Maine was cold until I came to the West Coast.
Yes, I grew up inland. There I said it. Luckily when I grew up I headed towards the water. Unfortunately when I grew up I had to get a job to be able to live closer to the water. Aye, there’s the rub.