Well, by now you’ve all heard that Nathan killed it during the Billabong XXL Awards. The event took place at the Grove in Anaheim this past May 4th, and all eyes were on shy, unassuming Nathan.

Nathan was nominated for three categories: “Ride of the Year”,  ”Men’s Performance” and “Monster Tube Champion”, and true to Nathan’s fashion, when Dave Grohl and his fellow bandmates (of Chevy Metal fame) announced the “Monster Tube Champion” as none other than Nathan Fletcher, homeboy was nowhere to be found.

Heads were turning, eyes straining, the attending spectators both hooting and whispering in hushed tones; everyone wondering where the (unofficial) Surfer of the Year was. For a second there, we at Astrodeck even thought that maybe Nathan ducked out of the whole scene and just decided to go back home to hang with his dogs Mr. Buzz and Boopers. Sometimes it seems like surfing death-defying beastly waves comes easier for Nate rather than being publically acknowledged by his friends, peers and fans.

As Chevy Metal heckled Nathan for missing out on receiving the award - funny and awkward - and Herbie got up on stage as a last-ditch effort to buy some time (”Where are you, Nathan?”), the audience erupted into cheers as Nathan finally made his way through the congratulatory crowd and all their pats on the back.

Up on deck, in front of the masses, as he hugged his proud pops, Nathan was at a loss for words, but still in his typical humble mode as he rattled off his genuine gratefulness to those who mattered.

And thus kicked-off the Billabong XXL Awards…

A big round of applause to everyone who was nominated and to everyone who won. And, of course, we’re especially proud of Nathan. Way to go, Nate!!!

SONY XPERIA “RIDE OF THE YEAR”

WINNER: NATHAN FLETCHER/$50,000 (San Juan Capistrano, CA, USA) at Teahupoo, Tahiti on August 27, 2011. Video by Simon Saffigna/$5,000)

SECOND PLACE: RYAN HIPWOOD/$5,000 (Gold Coast, Australia) at Cloudbreak, Fiji on July 12, 2011.

THIRD PLACE: GREG LONG/$1,500 (San Clemente, CA, USA) at Puerto Escondido, Mexico on May 19, 2011.

FOURTH PLACE: JEFF ROWLEY/$1,500 (Torquay, Victoria, Australia) at Jaws, Maui, Hawaii on January 30, 2012.

FIFTH PLACE: GARRETT MCNAMARA/$1,500 (Haleiwa, Hawaii, USA) at Praia do Norte, Nazaré, Portugal on November 1, 2011.

Billabong XXL 2012: The start of the night.

Sunny Garcia

Makua Rothman and Mickey Nielsen

Nathan on the big screen.

Chevy Metal (or Foo Fighters. Kinda.)

Greg "Da Bull" Noll and a couple of Playboy Playmates.

The always charming Greg Long.

Not sure who the lady is. But that's Tony Hawk... as if you didn't know.

Bruce Irons, Keala Kennelly, and Christian Fletcher

And the winner is...

All these guys had a spectacular year!

Father and son: A proud moment.

Timing is everything, and If you happen to be in the Encinitas area of San Diego, you just might come across this new Nixon billboard featuring our very own Nathan Fletcher.

Nathan Fletcher for Nixon Watches (Photo Courtesy of Nixon_Now Instagram)

Nathan Fletcher keeps going and going and...

Doesn’t look like the Nathan spotlight is going to fade any time soon. From international to national to local coverage, and even buzz around the water cooler, Nathan’s been the talk out of everyone’s mouth.

So why should Men’s Health be excluded?

The following is a link to a recent interview Nathan did with the mag. Read and enjoy.

http://news.menshealth.com/reach-new-heights/2012/01/04/?cm_mmc=Twitter-_-MensHealth-_-Content-MHNews-_-BiggestWaveEver

Last night at the Surfer Poll Awards - among an elite list of nominees that included Bruce Irons, Mark Healey, Dean Morrison, and Laurie Towner - Nathan beat the competition to win the prestigious “Heavy Water” Award.

We are so proud of you, Nathan. And we love you, too.

View the link to watch the nominated clips and Nathan’s acceptance speech.

http://www.surfermag.com/2011surferpoll/heavywater-nathanfletcher

So by now everyone’s seen all the grotesquely epic waves that Teahupo’o produced this last weekend of August. I mean, for the average person such as yourself and I, even going out there on a boat would be some kind of kamikaze suicide mission… Never mind getting towed-in and trying to surf that unflinching rogue.

But when has Nathan ever been considered average? Nathan is (g)narly by nature. As a Fletcher should be.

We’re stoked to see that Nathan, once again, pretty much stole the show. There have been massive amounts of attention and coverage going his way, with some even claiming that Nathan’s wave at Teahupo’o might very well be the biggest ever ridden out there. ESPN is calling it the “wave of the year”.

And who are we to argue with such a declaration?

http://espn.go.com/action/surfing/story/_/id/6903518/teahupoo-pumps-epic-tow-day

Nathan trying to tame the beast. 08-27-11/Teahupo'o. Photo: Joli

Nathan stopped by for quick little interview with the people over at SME Live.

Click (or cut/paste) the link to see what it’s about:

http://smelive.com/News/Article/Nathan-Fletcher

Now, we wouldn’t take ALL the credit, but it’s pretty cool that a week before the US Open, Kolohe Andino stopped by the Astrodeck Office to pick up some of our traction pads for the contest. Heat after heat, he became the giant killer, and found himself in the semi-finals where he was eventually taken down by overall 2nd place finisher, Yadin Nicol.

Kolohe Andino with some sweet Adeck on his board.

Kolohe again. All grip, no slip. That's Astrodeck for ya!

And speaking of Yadin, check out the pic below as he prepares to leave the competitor’s area and hit the water. Looks like the Aussie contender jumped on the Astrodeck bandwagon. Yeah, you like that, just as much as we do, dontcha? That board looks really solid with the Adeck.

Congrats on placing 2nd, Yadin! And a bigger congrats for using the best surf traction in the world!

In fact, we’re stoked that a lot of guys who were riding Astrodeck did pretty well overall: Ian Crane, Shane Beschen, Timmy Reyes, the Gudauskas trio, etc.

Pretty good representing Astrodeck, guys. Pretty damn good.

Nathan went to Costa Rica a little while back with Ivan Florence. And while the waves weren’t ideal, Nathan and the grom made the best out of the situation.

Analog posted up what transpired.

Click on the link and check out the photos. (And if the link doesn’t work, cut and paste. Come on, why do I even have to tel you that? Are you new?)

http://www.analogclothing.com/lifestyles/surf/article/486

Nathan airing it out. Photo by Lugo.

Fiji has been going off and everyone from Kelly Slater to Bruce Irons is there. In fact, Nathan is there with Bruce now and they’re having a blast. Apparently Nathan even caught one of the bigger waves of the day yesterday. Just wanted to share this link with you that Transworld Surf posted. Some great pics of Nathan on it, so check ‘em out!

http://surf.transworld.net/1000134192/photos/cloudbreak-goes-xxl/?pid=55554#ngtop

We’ll be posting up a little Summer update on Nathan next week. But, for now, here’s a little somethin’ somethin’ that should tide you over:

Nathan Fletcher getting a nice one at Pipe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klW56C2FHtc

(If you can’t directly click on the link to view the video, just copy and paste. Simple as that.)