We are all of us no better than my 6 year old boy, turning his nose up at spinach because it 'looks funny'.
Why do aesthetics win over functionality time and time again? It's not a matter of proof. We can know that something works well, but if it is not pleasing to the eye, it is not successful.
There are many such examples to choose from and this one tackles us surfers. No, I am not talking about a successful millionaire who decided to change the idea of what we call a surfboard and while incorporating amazing functionality (Thomas Meyerhoffer). Although it would be a great example.
The acclaimed XYZ from Thomas.
Instead I would like to talk about a design that has been around since 2011 and has not taken off despite being endorsed and produced by Firewire. The Cornice. It is without doubt (in my opinion) the ugliest surfboard I have ever seen.
If you disagree I would like you to post a picture of one uglier in the comments.
The thing about the Cornice however, is that there are many people that have ridden it and said wow, that is amazing. So why is it harder to come by than Snoopy's ear wax? I have looked into this quickly and while there are many shops that carry Firewire in Portugal, not a single one has one in stock. Not a single one. The same in France. The same in Spain. It turns out that my closest Cornice was to be found in the UK and has a discount of £250 on it. In other words they can't give it away.
Here we have a glowing review from an unsuspecting tester.
Aside from making this amazing discovery that a surfboard has to look like a surfboard for people to buy it there is a point to this. The main difference of the Cornice shape in case you have not gathered by now, are the parabolic rails making the rail to rail and transition through manoeuvers faster and therefore able to carry more speed.
The company that came up with this back in 2011 are called Trinity Technologies and they have just won over forty thousand euros in an INDIEGOGO campaign to get their boards made and out there.
If the video footage is anything to go by they surf even better than the floppy Cornice and they do look a little more pleasing on the eye. The real question is are we grown up enough for this board or are we the 6 year old looking at the spinach saying 'I don't want to surf that. It looks funny?'
As no one ever says. 'The proof of the pudding is how it looks' So check out this short clip below and some footage of the new Trinity board being ridden.
cornice3
The acclaimed XYZ from Thomas.
If you disagree I would like you to post a picture of one uglier in the comments.
Trinity have come up with this.
Its looks a lot tastier than the ill fated Cornice.