Mercedes-Benz exclusively developed a unique surfboard for legendary big wave rider Garrett McNamara‘s quest to break his own world record in Nazaré, Portugal. The four surfboards were designed and engineered by McNamara together with designers and engineers from Mercedes-Benz at the company’s Design Centre in Sindelfingen and subjected there to extreme testing, for example in the wind tunnel. Mercedes-Benz was responsible for the design and McNamara for the shape and weight of the boards. The key quest of the cooperation was to identify the ideal material and the perfect distribution of weight on the board. The boards, which were built in Portugal and are specifically suited to surfing on giant waves, each have a slightly different shape and have been tailor-made to McNamara’s weight and height. The joint project, under the name “MBoard”, represents an impressive example of the Mercedes-Benz motto: “The best or nothing”. Surfing legend McNamara tested the boards for the first time from 2 to 13 February in Portugal, showing himself more than satisfied with the result. The cooperation could well be extended to further projects over the course of 2014; for example involving the use of telemetry to measure for the first time the precise speeds achieved by extreme surfers.