CROSSING OVER TECHNICAL EVOLUTION CLINTON FILEN

“THERE’S A THEORY FOR INNOVATION THAT SAYS IT’S GOT TO BE INNOVATIVE ENOUGH THAT IT DIFFERENTIATES YOU, BUT NOT SO INNOVATIVE THAT PEOPLE CAN’T IDENTIFY WITH IT.”

I caught up with Clinton at the UK’s Kitesurfing Armada event in early summer, where he was fascinated by the first ten issues of Kiteworld that we had on display to mark the release of our anniversary edition, #100, last issue. As he flicked through the pages, guffawing at the crude product designs by today’s standards, not just in his own Airush adverts, but throughout the magazine, I tapped the record button on my phone. With issue #04 (published April 2003) in his hands, he tapped the Airush ad page repeatedly in thought, and remembered:

CF: This Trio was a very interesting kite for us, but we had to take it off the market because it wouldn’t sell, even though it flew perfectly. People believed three strut kites couldn’t be stable enough, so we