Safety When Launching and Landing - The Kiteboarder Magazine

Age: 25
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 165
Stance: Regular
Years kiting: 4-5
Favorite Spots: St. Petersburg,
Hatteras, Texas, anywhere in the
Southern Caribbean
Favorite Conditions: Any wind, as
long as I can ride! (steady wind is
the best)
Favorite Moves: Hangtime
Sponsors: Flexifoil, Watersports
West, SPKC
Gear Set-Up
Boards: 120 and 137 Underground
Bindings: Footstraps
Kites: Flexifoils - Fusion and Ion, all
sizes (favorite -12m)
Bars: Standard Flexi bar
Lines: 23m-27m
Harness: Dakine Pyro
Big handlepasses
helped Billy win
the Nissan Velocity
Games best trick.
Lens: Ryan Riccitelli
Practice loading your
edge and releasing
without sending the kite.
When and where did you start kiteboarding?
I started kiteboarding at the end of 2001 in St.
Petersburg, Florida.
Where is your favorite place you have ridden?
There are many different places in the world that
are so good for kiting that picking one is impossible.
What riders influence you most?
Watching creative Riders like Lou Wainman,
Martin Vari, and Aaron Hadlow makes me want
to go ride.
What do you do off the water to help you on
the water?
If you want to progress your level of riding, you
need to increase your training. I have five: the
hanging bar, the trampoline, swimming, the
cable park, and wakeboarding.
If you could give props to someone you really
respect in the kiteboarding world, who would
it be?
There are a lot of good people that are push-
When doing handlepasses,
your body needs to travel
to the bar after your edge is
released.
Start with jumps to blind
and practice yanking your
hips to the bar.
Practice your tricks
with different hand
positions.
Practice riding
unhooked as much as
possible and jumping
unhooked as big as
you can go.
Billy Parker grew up fishing, hunting, and hydro-sliding in St. Petersburg, Florida. He competed in every sport he could and always seemed
to have a talent for whatever he tried. When Billy lost interest in everyday activities, he ended up working for the family business (fumigation)
and wakeboarding on the side. He soon learned about the cable park at Orlando Watersports Complex. While riding at the cable, Billy
was told about this sport called kiteboarding that was similar to wakeboarding and the cable, but allowed you to jump higher, be in total
control, and cost a lot less. As soon as he heard this, he knew he had to try kiteboarding, but little did he know how much it would change
his life.
ing the limits of themselves and the sport while
promoting kiting in a positive way. These are the
individuals that I respect and hope keep promoting
kiting to others.
What is something about you that you do
outside of kiteboarding that most people
wouldn’t know?
My work. I do a lot of different trades: animal
trapper, pest control operator, structural
repairs, cabinet installer, and line striper.
What has been your biggest accomplishment
in life?
Finding something that truly makes me happy
and makes me want to be the best. Some
people search a lifetime for something that
makes them want to live or feel alive. Kiting is
that for me.
.
Rumor has it you turned your house into a
kiteboarding training compound. What is that
all about?
Like I said before, practice is what makes you
better. Now I can practice when there is no wind,
Billy and his sidekick Gunthor
cross train together in his backyard
pool. Lens: Tiffany Schrader
and if you want to get better it’s all putting in the
time.
What do you think of the current contest
scene?
I think we still have a lot of growing to do in the
sport and with that the competitions will grow to
become better. If you want to do well in competition,
ask the judges what they are looking for.
What is your recipe for success as a kiteboarder?
Lots of practice, never act like you’re too good
(be helpful), and keep your word.
How did you get the name Wild Bill?
A few close calls, lots of hurricane-wind driven
sessions, and a group of creative kiting friends.
Where do you want to be in a year?
I’d like to be traveling the world competing,
testing equipment, and doing demos. I want to
show off kites and my skills to people who I can
influence to try out the sport and learn what it’s
like to kite.