What do pro wakeboarders do when they have a layover and they’re trying to kill time? Hop on a website and spread rumors about their new board and bindings of course! Shaun Murray was stuck in the airport on a layover while flying up to Canada for the Kelowna Pro Tour Stop. In between exchanging movie recommendations and food reviews with other riders he threw out some details on his new wakeboard and wakeboard boots for 2008.
For Murray’s 11th season riding for Hyperlite it sounds like they’ve been hard at work improving the dynamics of the gear bearing his name to make a setup that’s better than ever before. For the last few years Mr. Murray wakeboard and wakeboard bindings have been the launching platform for new technology. From the asymmetrical Hyperlite Temet wakeboard to the closed toe Murray boot two years ago, new ideas have made their debut under his feet. The same should be true of next year’s gear.
Here’s the good stuff from the post that Shaun made on WakeWorld:
got one of the first runs of my new board the other day. holy guacamole is it light?!!!
that wasn’t a question, but a statement.
new boots have the option to be stiff or softer in the flex. just have to wait and see.
Let’s hope Hyperlite’s R&D department has figured out a way to make this new board light without sacrificing any strength. It seems like we’re reaching the point where it’s unrealistic to make wakeboard very much lighter without sacrificing strength or using exotic materials that will result in prices that are too high for most consumers. The weight of the board is only one component of it’s ride too. Obviously Hyperlite has been leading the wakeboard industry for a long time, so we can’t wait to see what they’ve come up with to combine a durable board with one that is light weight.
Murray’s new wakeboard boots appear to be incorporating additional technology from the snowboard industry with a new flex adjustment system. This could be a great solution for riders that want a high-end boot, but need to be able to vary the flex pattern for more support, or more tweak-ability. We’ll have to wait to see what the final execution is, but this could be a big innovation that we see on all high end wakeboard bindings in the years to come.
It’s exciting to see Shaun riding hard on the tour again, and excited about his gear for 2008. We’re just as excited to see what he’ll be riding next year, and can’t wait for Surf Expo to check it out. Let us know if there’s anything in particular you would like to see in the comments.
