Hyperlite State Jr Wakeboard Review
Designed for beginner and intermediate youths to make wake jumps easier.
The Hyperlite State Jr Wakeboard is 125 CM long, and it is designed to give beginner and intermediate youths a sound foundation in this popular water sport. Several years ago, Hyperlite designed a good number of wakeboards targeted at children. The Hyperlite State Jr is an addition to that collection. Hyperlite says they designed this short board with an abrupt continuous rocker after realizing a shorter toeside edge makes wake jumps easier and it does not affect the speed.
Founded in 1991, Hyperlite has been making innovative wakeboards using high quality materials and designs. Their line of products includes a series of bindings and boots too, so everything you need to start wakeboarding is under one roof.
The asymmetrical design of the Hyperlite State Jr wakeboard gives it an irregular shape. However, as you will see in the latter sections of this State Jr wakeboard review, this has its benefits.
Specifications and Features
- Length 125CM, width 41.1CM
- Monocoque construction
- Biolite 3 core
- Layered glass
- M6 inserts
- Asymmetrical shape or design
- Molded in fins
- Toeside footbed risers
Get enough pop without affecting the speed
A wakeboard rocker is the curve of the board from the tip to the tail. There are different types of rockers such as continuous, hybrid (blend of two types of rocker lines), three-stage and even five-stage rockers. The Hyperlite State Jr comes with an abrupt continuous rocker. The tip and tail rocker is slightly exaggerated, but the main benefit is that this board enables you to master your pop fast, without affecting your speed.
Because of the asymmetrical shape of the Hyperlite State Jr Wakeboard (mentioned we would come back to this), the toeside is shorter than the heelside. This gives you an advantage when edging and jumping or crossing the wake. It shortens the learning time when you are practicing how to cross the wake.
A continuous rocker also makes the landings easier and softer because the board disperses the water properly when you land. The smooth curvature of the Hyperlite State Jr Wakeboard gives stable landings when you are coming out of the wake. When you get past the wake to the flats, you will be steady enough and confident to try a few tricks. This kind of rocker line is perfect for a beginner board. Since the tail and tip rocker is only slightly raised from the bottom-most part of the board, it does not plow the water; it glides without much resistance. This makes it fast enough (for a beginner or intermediate) and easy to steer.
This type of rocker has another benefit for beginners. Unlike the three-stage rockers, which are quite aggressive and require more skill, the abrupt continuous rocker creates slightly more drag when you are getting into the wave. The vertical pop is not as big as what you would get from a hybrid or three-stage rocker, but this is just what a beginner needs.
Hold your direction easily
The Hyperlite State Jr design pays a lot of detail to the base of the board, well, because the base is everything! Hyperlite has used Biolite 3 Core, which is the most recent, newest and most lightweight, yet resilient core material. This board comes with two molded-in fins, which are part of the board, so they are not detachable. One is on the side of the State Jr Wakeboard rather than the center while the Disorder Fin works as the center fin to give the rider more control over the board. Having a fin on the board not only helps in maintaining direction, but it also prevents it from rotating wildly on the water.
If a wakeboard has a fin, you might not be able to use it in a cable park. Cable parks usually have obstacles that might destroy the fin if the board lands on, or slides across one. Thus, the State Jr wakeboard is best used as a boat wakeboard.
The Hyperlite State Jr wakeboard is easier to steer and keep in a straight line thanks to the molded-in fin. The fin digs into the water and gives the board stability as you get into and out of the wake.
Another feature that increases the wakeboard’s stability is the heel-side edge design of the State Jr wakeboard. There are two types of edging. The first one is the toeside and the second one is heelside edging. On this board, the natural position of the body is more to the heelside and this gives it more stability and ability to maintain speed when going into and out of the wake.
The heelside edge makes carving (crossing the wake) easy. However, on this wakeboard, Hyperlite has added an extra feature to make toe-side carves easier. This feature is the toe-side footbed riser. It is going to enhance your toe-side edging efficiency. If you need to carve the board towards the toeside, this feature gives you more leverage. So you only have to apply a little pressure and the board responds accordingly. The asymmetrical shape and design of the Hyperlite State Jr wakeboard makes toeside turns even easier.
M6 inserts give a more secure grip to the binding hardware to keep it fully locked in. Wakeboarding is a vigorous activity, hence the need for high quality inserts like the M6. These inserts are made of stainless steel, have caps and you can cover them with magnetic tape (which you can buy separately) to make them magnetic.
Check for the best prices on the Hyperlite State Jr Wakeboard
Pros
- Monocoque construction enhances performance of the board on the water
- Fairly soft landings because of the continuous rocker
- The design of the State Jr wakeboard shortens the learning curve
- Asymmetrical shape with shorter toe side makes it easy to learn how to carve
- Layered glass laminates never separate with age or extreme usage
Cons
- It is limited to boat wakeboarding
Hyperlite State Jr Wakeboard
