Wow, outstanding achievement Bill! I have a number of interesting shots of him in action. Are there any good photos of Josh going off?

Other ideas?

I have some really good pics of me.

http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/7137/f165bb.jpg

This is one of my favorites
http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/3212/dsc49107rl.jpg

http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/3010/seq24ym.jpg

very good point Scott.

if any of you were considering making Kiting a profession, would you stay here or move to an area with more consistent wind conditions or maybe just follow the wind year round?

around here, Bill sticks out like a sore thumb (a good sore thumb). Once he hits the water, all gawkers eyes (and most riders as well) are drawn to him. Cant help but notice the guy jumping twice as high as everyone else.

but put him in areas like the Gorge, would he just be one in the crowd?

again.. i would think that always riding with people that are better than you pushes you to advance much more quickly.

then take someone that has that natural ability to progress at amazing speed and put them in that situation .... and next thing you know you are on the cover of magazines and riding a board with your name on it. etc etc..

ill bet he comes back with a few new tricks...

b

Thanks for the great shots Josh. You also have that nice animated gif now that I think about it.

Regarding Florida and Pro kiteboarding, we have always been an exceptional starting point for great riders. Lou Waiman, Flash Austin, Shannon Best and many other famous kiteboarders started here. Andy Hurdman who is a strong kiter in his own right honed a lot of his technique right in light wind Delray. I once asked him how he managed to do that with the particularly light winds in those years. He did a lot of downwinders. At his light weight, probably around that of Bill, they need less wind than us heavier guys. Add to that heading downwind, you need less wind velocity than required to stay upwind. You can build momentum for launching into tricks running off the wind as well.

Still, all these guys including Andy ended up in Maui. I am not sure how great the Gorge is as a breeding ground for broad talented kiteboarders. That gust range out there can be intense. The same can be said about Maui at times as well. So moving on to a high wind destination for accelerated skill development seems to be the norm for the strong pro kiteboarders.

Bill, Josh - send me a postcard from Maui... :lol:

Well,

I honestly believe Bill is a standout. Period. If he went to the Gorge, Hawaii, it wouldn't matter. People would be staring.
I think Bill has gotten so good from practicing technique on a tramp. I am guessing.
Anyway, back to the point. Bill is incredibly strong pound per pound, has awesome balance, is very intelligent and has a lot of drive and can "see it".
He would/will stand out anywhere. I agree though, I hope he leaves St. Pete (for his own good).
(these are humble opinions from an opinionated guy that sucks at kiting.. btw)

Hello Josh,

Do you have copies of the first two photos in high res.? I am not certain if they will have space in the mag. but I would like to try. It is excellent to see a new rider advancing so rapidly and wearing a lid to boot. Leading by example, always a good thing. The mags. normally need the highest res, raw image is fine, that you have. If you could email it to flkitesurfer@hotmail.com that would be great. Who should the photos be credited to?

Thanks!

Awesome, yeah i've got them in high res, i'll send them to you.

The credit for the pictures go to david W. I'm not sure how to exactly spell his last name, i'll post that later.



PS: I just got sponserd by cabrinha!!! :D

David Whisennant Is his full name.

Hey Josh,

Thanks, I will look forward to receiving the photos and CONGRATULATIONS on being sponsored by Cabrinha! That will go into the Florida Update as well.