My buddy Bryan managed to get some video of Billy Parker ripping it up in St. Pete two weeks ago when Alberto rolled through. The video is a bit shaky because the wind was blowing the camera around, but it conveys the general mood pretty well. The wind was so strong and gusty at this point that every one else got off of the water. Hell, it was basically a squall line rolling through. I gave up and went home. As usual, Billy rigged.

The first time I met Billy or saw him ride, I was helping out by holding onto his harness while someone else launched his 12m kite in extremely heavy conditions in Tampa. I couldn't believe he was going out at all, not to mention on a 12m kite, and asked, "hey, are you sure you want to challenge this?"

Billy's response? "Challenge this? I own this!" Then he launched his kite, jumped on his board, and threw a 25 foot high handle pass on the way out. That was quite an introduction.

One thing this video does not do is capture the impact of watching, in person, Billy Parker ride in heavy weather. I have seen a lot of great riders ride live, but when Billy charges storm weather or otherwise heavy wind, it is terrifying to behold.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKtIQbhH8ZQ

For good measure, I'll throw in a link to the Hurricane Dennis video, an old favorite on the West Side. It contains footage of Skyway Scott jumping directly over a cruise ship and snatching some doughnuts off of the breakfast buffet. Now that's a true slob grab!

http://www.kiteflix.com/kitesurf_tampa_hurricane_dennis.html

That vid really does Billy NO justice whatsoever. Wouldn't you agree?
What was he on? His 12m in 40?

Wish a vid of Bill at his best was floating around, he is awesome.

Yeah, I agree. He'll be in the vids soon enough. I thought it was impressive enough that he went out and charged, with that nasty crap rolling through.

no kidding that video gives no justice to how it was while he was out riding ... look at the gusts across the kite ...

billy is just trying to hold down for most of his session.. that first jump tho.. judging that billy is about 5 ft 10 and at his apex he is about 6 or 7 times his height off the water..

can you imagine how flippin helpless you are in conditions like that and 30 to 40 feet in the air?

...

he was out at BS skyway today and pulling more spinning/pass moves than i can relate. also.. he did about 4 big tacks and ended up behind the islands over near tiera verde. no fear and skill = billy p.

add that he spent a bunch of time today helping a newbie rig and fly his kite he gets my vote for rider of the week award.

thanks for posting the video E.. cant wait for the season when we can get everyone some quality footage of themselves for keepsake if nothing else!

-B

Speaking of video, did you get video of me doing that big air, front mobe to kiteloop last week, where I land blind holding the chicken loop in my teeth? The punkz at Extreme Kites are calling me out and saying that I can't throw that trick down.

Before the possible chaos hits kiteforum (BWL) we got a bunch of SWBs in today (code). Bryan, not knocking your vid, but few vids of Bill exist and most people have seen Bill at his (way less than best) in most of them. Just letting people that haven't seen Bill with their own eyes know that

Ebone, nothing compares to my recent hero to zero (litt to dead still) fiasco at Matanzas when I ran into .114 inches of water LITT and going about 30!
Scars on arms and delts to prove it. It was my best trick in 3 years (sorta' sad)