SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — Jack O'Neill, the eye patch wearing wetsuit pioneer who trail-blazed coldwater surfing, has died, friends confirmed to KSBW Friday.

Before O’Neill handed her a wetsuit to try on for the first time, woman’s surfing pioneer Betty Van Dyke would paddle out in the icy waters of Santa Cruz’s Pleasure Point after wrapping ...

Santa Cruz, the former home of wetsuit pioneer Jack O’Neill, is losing one of its oldest surf shops. After 25 years of business, O’Neill is closing its downtown store on Pacific Avenue. The ...

Before O’Neill handed her a wetsuit to try on for the first time, woman’s surfing pioneer Betty Van Dyke would paddle out in the icy waters of Santa Cruz’s Pleasure Point after wrapping ...

Jack O’Neill was just looking for a way to keep warm. The waters in Northern California were so frigid that winter surf sessions barely lasted an hour before ice cream headaches forced surfers ...

Jack O’Neill, the Santa Cruz entrepreneur who opened one of the world’s first surf shops and pioneered the neoprene wetsuit that helped popularize year-round cold-water surfing, has died.

In this August 5, 1982 photo, Jack O'Neill suits up in the small craft harbor before windsurfing off Santa Cruz, Calif. A California surfing world icon who pioneered the wetsuit has died.

Jack O’Neill, a giant in the surfing industry and the man credited with inventing the surfer’s wetsuit, died Friday at his home near Pleasure Point in Santa Cruz. He was 94.

In honor of the late wetsuit pioneer Jack O’Neill, droves of surfing community enthusiasts on Sunday paddled out into the Pacific Ocean near Santa Cruz to honor the legendary surfing icon.

PLEASURE POINT >> Wetsuit vanguard and Santa Cruz surfing legend Jack O’Neill died Friday morning at his home. He was 94. O’Neill was surrounded by family and friends at the time of his death ...

SANTA CRUZ >> Thousands of people converged at Pleasure Point Sunday morning to witness what was expected to be the largest-ever paddle-out memorial, to honor Jack O’Neill, inventor of the ...