Billy gets a cover

[Danimal8199]

thats what they want you to think!

[bryanleighty]

Originally Posted by Danimal8199

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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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.

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..

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.