When Shaun Murray first vocalized his Pay It Forward idea, the response from wakeboarders hoping to get a chance to ride his new board was overwhelming. After some initial confusion about the particulars of the program, how the boards would be tracked, and when they would go to the first riders, it looks like the time is coming soon.

Shaun recently posted the pictures in the attached gallery on WakeWorld of him getting the boards ready to go out to their first riders. Hyperlite even saw fit to include Sub 6 boxes with each of the boards to ensure they will survive multiple trips through your local mail carriers grubby hands.

If you’re not already on the list, head over to WakeWorld and get signed up for your chance to rider Murray’s latest and greatest Hyeprlite creations.

[Courtesy of WakeWorld]

Gallery: Hyperlite Pay It Forward Promo

Shaun Murray is a household name within the wakeboard industry. Seriously, he’s not only been around for a while, but continues to play a key role in the industry, whether it’s in his impressive contest showings or simply serving as an ambassador to the sport, Shaun will go down as one of the legends of wakeboarding.

Murray’s latest plan further reinforces the creativity and drive that has kept him at the top of the industry for so long. Although it can certainly be attributed as a genius marketing idea, Murray and Hyperlite are teaming up to replicate the inspiring story of the popular movie Pay It Forward. In the wakeboard version, Murray will be boxing up three of his brand new pro-models, and shipping each one out to one lucky person to ride for a couple of days. The details are still developing, but however it works out, this should be a great opportunity for more people to try a new and innovative wakeboard, while at the same time spreading some wakeboard stoke.

Stay tuned for the details, along with instructions on how you can catch a ride on the 2008 Hyperlite Murray. The only catch is, you’ve gotta pay it forward when your turn is over.

[Courtesy of WakeWorld]

The winners of Parks Bonifay’s 2007 Double or Nothing contest got a chance to test the limits of the human stomach when they were invited to go for a ride with the Blue Angels. Red Bull arranged the once in a lifetime ride for Parks, Shaun Murray and Shane Bonifay as an award for capturing various titles at the double up contest they sponsored. Between flight training that included learning how to breath to control the flow of blood through your body, and actual instruction on flying the Angels F/A-18, who wouldn’t jump at an opportunity like this?

At the end of their separate flights, the three riders were able to compare the G forces they experienced, and of course were pretty pumped about breaking the speed of sound.

“This was the most insane thing I have or will ever experience in my life. All I know is that I finally broke the speed of sound,” exclaimed test pilot Parks Bonifay. “I hit 7.4 G’s for 9 seconds before my eyes rolled in the back of my head and my body went limp.”

After a morning of flying, Parks and his comrades returned the favor by taking their hosts out on Andrew Adkison’s X-Star for an afternoon of riding. All we want to know is what did Andrew do to deserve getting stuck in the boat without a chance to go flying?

Check out the full recap after the break courtesy of WakeWorld.

The Hyperlite wakeboard team gathered in Northern California recently to relax, recharge, and to take advantage of the incredible late season conditions Lake Shasta is known for. Fortunately for us they also brought along a video camera to capture some of the best free-riding we’ve seen. As an added bonus, there are some good shots of the 2008 gear, as the official purpose of the trip was to shoot video and images for the 2008 Hyperlite catalog.

As the season here in the Northwest starts to wrap-up, this video makes us wish we had a Shasta trip planned sometime in the near future to extend the season just a little bit longer. Hyperlite has put together a great team, and if they have plans to release more videos from team trips in the future we’re all for that.

Check out the video after the jump.

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.

Read on for some insight into the changes that are in store.