Billy gets a cover

[Steve-O]

It just gets better for Billy.....after making a serious statement at the Triple S, Bill got a cover for Kiteboarder mag in Aug. Most covers are a closeup of someone shredding a wave or some hard handle-pass trick....but this one is unique.....basically Bill about 100 feet up. If it can be done, he will figure it out.

Congrats on all your success. You deserve it!!!!!!

[toby wilson]

That Rocks!!! Congrats Bill!

[ricki]

It just gets better for Billy.....after making a serious statement at the Triple S, Bill got a cover for Kiteboarder mag in Aug. Most covers are a closeup of someone shredding a wave or some hard handle-pass trick....but this one is unique.....basically Bill about 100 feet up coming down from some insane tow up.

Congrats on all your success. You deserve it!!!!!!

Well done Billy! I still recall his firing off towards the horizon in the 60 mile race to Ft. Lauderdale throwing big jumps along the way and still with the leaders.

I was just speaking with The Kiteboarder Mag. staff and the latest issue came up. They told me the cover shot was taken at Sherman Island in California with Billy boosting a huge jump but was NOT a tow-up. The photo caption even says that.

[bryanleighty]

anyone got the pic they can post? when does this go on sale?

[TritonKiteboarding]

I dont know how to put the pic in the thread but i attached the cover shot. Mikey Bradleys sportin' the ink while Billys sportin' altitude.

http://www.fksa.org/albums/album284/n500281341_63158_3047.jpg

[Adam]

NICE! that shot is sick

[ricki]

I embedded the photo into your post Matt. I was thinking wow, what a composition to catch and to be able to pickup all the detail in Mike's tattoos. Then I saw the aura around Mike, suspecting that he may not be quite that angelic and then concluded ... Photoshop (gasp).

Actually, it's still a nice shot mixing a wide angle shot of Billy with a close up shot of Mike's back.



http://www.fksa.org/albums/album252/40_G.jpg

As you can see from the KW College Comp. it isn't easy to pickup the tattoos in normal outdoor lighting.

[bryanleighty]

i emailed the editor of the magazine... they are going to send me a high quality version of the image the day after the mag is released.

i'll post for everyone to get a copy.

damn that guy can fly.

[Danimal8199]

Word on the street is that this picture is not a tow-up and that Billy is actually using a new hybrid kite. It has a reverse dynamic air profile that actually creates more lift once the rider leaves contact with the water...That might explain why he is so high up there!

[Skyway Scott]

He's on the Flexi Ion2. He's been on Flexi for awhile and the hybrids a couple seasons now.

[Danimal8199]

thats what they want you to think!

[bryanleighty]

thats what they want you to think!

??????
you cant be serious?

ever see billy ride?

guys goes huge on any and all equipment i've seen him ride over the past 2 and 1/2 years. and to be honest, its not that he goes huge.. its more along the lines of "massive" or "epic".

a kite is a kite is a kite. riders make all the difference.

[Danimal8199]

Word on the street is that this picture is not a tow-up and that Billy is actually using a new hybrid kite. It has a reverse dynamic air profile that actually creates more lift once the rider leaves contact with the water...That might explain why he is so high up there!

Of course i'm not serious, have you ever heard of a "reverse dynamic air profile" on a kite?

Only kidding, and I have watched Billy ride a couple times, he really is a "Billy Bad A$$".

[bryanleighty]

:) <- universal "I am only joking" symbol. Typically inserted where someone might confuse a statement for possibly being outrageous or offensive.


hehe

trust me.

you hear some of the questions that new riders have you'd realize they read way too many kiteboard advertisements promising that such and such kite does this or that. Reverse dynamic air profile seems like something they would try to sell.

[Skyway Scott]

Actually. I got to ride the Ion2 (two of Bill's).
They jump much higher than last year's Flexi. The new board doesn't hurt, either.
You guys should try one, Billy lets people demo. Flexi doesn't toot their ads nearly as much as others.

[bryanleighty]

i talked to billy for a while at the undertow .. flexi does not push their products to the USA as much as they do in other countries.. Flexi is huge in many areas of the world.. but pretty small in the US comparatively.

Billy is flexi's main man in the states and thats why they dont pay for him to go outside of this country to compete.. they have Aaron for that purpose.

Billy is always letting anyone demo his equipment. earlier this season at the pre-race party he gave me his kite and board and then he took off for a couple hours.. told me to have fun.

and i did.

[Stevil Kenevil]

Let's quit trying to confuse the newbies with all this reverse aerodynamic profile stuff...His bladders are obviously filled with helium (to maximize hangtime), and the bar is equipped with new Flexi 25 meter bungee lines, which give additional lift while boosting. Other than that, its just another routine flight at Parker Airlines.

P.S. I am selling the helium charge kits for 69.95 and line sets for only 99.95. PLACE YOUR ORDER SOON TO AVOID THE RUSH!!!!!

Congrats on your first (of many) covers BP.

[Skyway Scott]

Shannon had that edition of the mag in his hand and Billy was right there with us, so I put two and two together and asked Billy for the scoop on this infamous pic.

Here is the scoop. Bill was doing tow ups while out there.
But.... he was also jumping HUGE with his 10.5 in 30 to 35 knots and getting anextra rocket boost from a strong thermal updraft.
So, Billy doesn't even know for sure what particular moment in time that photo captures.

I asked him if he felt like he hit any 70 foot jumps while out there and if the picture is even possible without a towup.
He said yes that he did hit several monster jumps, and was certain a few hit 70 feet.

So, it seems to me this might be a picture of an non tow up jump.
If anyone can do, it's Bill. I have never known him to exaggerate, so it's probably the real deal caught on film.

He went on to say his absolute highest jump ever was at P.A.G behind Shell Island with only 2 older people as spectators. He said the jump was so high, he immediately stopped kiting for the day and called it quits.
That must have been high if Billy actually decided to hop off the water.

Oh, he told some more funny stories to us as well (as usual). One about being sucked under the skyway as a newbie.

Favorite story quote - "Hell no! I've watched shark week on the Discovery Channel, I wasn't gonna swim in!"
Second favorite quote - "Definitely don't piss yourself".

If Billy was the worst kiter in town, he'd still be one of my favorites, no doubt.
He earned my respect the first day I saw him ride. I still remember it fondly and vividly.
East beach, this guy pumps up a 7.5 Naish in solid 30 knots and tries to jump repeatedly about 40 times in a row, each time getting his as# handed to him.. HARD.
He just kept doing it. I still remember telling Donna "If this guy doesn't die today, he is probably going to get pretty good".
The next week he earned even more respect and I will definitely never forget him actually swimming out in the channel to help me after I got totally worked at Bunces Pass.
I will never forget that day and to me that aspect of Billy's personality will always dominate my impression of him as a kiter. It's great he is on a cover now, but to me, he was a great kiter from the get go. :)

[bryanleighty]

i called the magazine after the go-round on kiteforum.com .. they are printing a retraction about the "jump"..

billy is the man.. nuff said..

[Skyway Scott]

What does that mean? retraction. I know the word etc, but I thought it said on the mag inside that it wasn't a tow up anyway.
I never look at those magazines or read them.
Yep though, Billy is a high jump master, no doubt.

[bryanleighty]

the woman i talked to said the pic was in a folder called "monster jumps".. they printed it as such.. but then it was found to be a tow up.. i guess they are concerned to promote tow ups as a normal way to kite and didnt want to put it in the limelight.. ummm..too late.. hahaha..

[Skyway Scott]

What a pickle. Sounds like maybe it was an actual jump now.
The thing is, no one would believe it even if it was and it's not worth it arguing over it.
I believe Bill cuz of the situation he described and know he (if anyone) could take advantage of it without crappin his shorts. Photo shopping the other rider in front of him and the fact he is so far away kinda kill the picture and it's authenticity anyway. Oh well.

[popeye]

Well, the biggest kiteloop i've ever seen was from Ruben in hurricane conditions off of a wave, and it was about 65% of his line length, which made it about 60 feet high.

In this photo Billy seems to be 1.4 times his line length high. Thats over 100 feet... closer to 120 feet. 120 feet is a big number for a jump on flat water.

I think they got the photos mixed up.

[Skyway Scott]

Who knows.
In the photo Billy also appears to be an ant hanging on to a girly drink umbrella tied with floss at low resolution. Why didn't they put a good pic of Billy up where we actually recognize him and he looks cool?
I know I should be more P.C., less critical. But it's true.

[popeye]

Doesn't matter anyway, after all it's Billy on the cover of a mag!

Even if he was standing there drinking a beer, it still rocks for Billy.

I don't care if it's a tow up or a jump, cause either one, going that high, is respectable to me.

[Skyway Scott]

Well we looked inside the magazine yesterday while hanging out, and some cool pics are inside too. :D

[Kev]

So - does anyone remember billy's break away harness that he had when he first started kiting?? He'd be riding along try a jump and his harness would open up and he'd have to try to get it back on while holding onto the kite. What a funny and scarry sight sometimes........ so from when he started to now, he is always fun to watch!

[Skyway Scott]

Yeah,

I remember that P.O.S.
Even worse, although Billy made it work, was that cheap wakeboard (from walmart maybe) that he cut about 5 inches off of both tips to remove the rocker. That was the ugliest board of all time.

[Erick]

Talking about Billy, I've received yesterday the latest issue of Kiteboarding Magazine (August issue) and Mr. Parker is in one of the pictures in the "lines" section. The picture was taken during the Triple S invitational in Hatteras. He is one of the real sliders. One of the articles mentions that he got third place in the overall event.

Cool!

[Kev]

That is pretty cool!! It was all the practice on Jay's death slider......