The mercedes-benz design studio have just delivered their latest surfboard made entirely of portuguese cork to hawaiian big-wave surfer garrett mcnamara.
conceived as a collaboration with corticeira amorim cork composites, the new board will be used to ride the biggest waves in the world in nazaré, portugal. the ‘mboard’ project, which was initiated by mercedes-benz in 2013, resulted in the production of the silver arrow of the seas, designed by BBDO portugal. fast-forward a year and mercedes-benz has taken this challenge further by developing a surfboard entirely made of a local material, traditionally used to manufacture bottle stoppers.
according to garrett mcnamara, ‘since portugal is the world’s largest cork producer, it makes perfect sense to use this material to make high-performance surfboards for surfing in nazaré. when we surf big waves, we need a flexible board, although resistant enough not to break.’ mcnamara currently holds the record for the biggest wave ever surfed, and used boards designed by mercedes-benz during the big storm in 2013 to ride massive waves in nazaré at 62.4 km/h
detail of the cork production
the surfboard being shaped
the silver arrow of the seas, 2013
www.designboom.com – INNOVAticias
