Teahupo’o can be fickle. Teahupo’o can be angry. Teahupo’o can be out of your scope of mental and physical stability. But one thing it’s not; Teahupo’o is never without a dull moment.

The basic consensus from most people was that Koa Rothman took top honors this year for riding this crazy bitch out and making the impossible seem possible. But never one to hold back and always pushing his own endless boundaries, Nathan Fletcher was the guy who PADDLED, that’s right folks, PADDLED and not towed, into the biggest wave on May 14th. Dammit Nathan, you sure do up the ante all the time…

The following pics of Astrodeck Team Rider Nathan Fletcher were taken from various sources on the Internet.

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.

Hello all you Happy People.

Check out this interview that Nathan recently did with “Men’s Journal”.

http://www.mensjournal.com/nathan-fletcher

You know, with all this recent coverage and adulation that Nathan’s been getting (and deservedly so), it’s just gonna be a matter of time when Nathan’s in the hot seat with Larry King.

We'll let you know when this happens!

An outside source recently pointed out that with Nathan’s current (and record-setting) 8 magazine covers in one month, as well as past cover shots of Christian and Herbie, there may be no other family in surf history with more combinations of front journal pieces. Those of us here at Astrodeck got a chuckle out of it and never really thought of it along those lines. But it is an accomplished feat of publication. So, yeah, we think it’s pretty bad ass, too.

Check out just a FEW of the covers that the Fletcher’s have graced over the years.

Herbie Fletcher: "Surfing Magazine", 1968

Herbie Fletcher: "Surfer Magazine", 1976

Herbie Fletcher: "Pacific Longboarder", 2005

Christian Fletcher: "Surfer Magazine", 1988

Christian Fletcher: "Breakout Magazine", 1990

Christian Fletcher: "Thrasher Magazine", 1991. (Christian was the only surfer to have ever been featured on the cover of this skate mag.)

Nathan Fletcher: "Surfer Magazine", 1999

Nathan Fletcher: "Surfing Magazine", 2008

Nathan Fletcher: "Transworld Surf", 2011

We’re running out of fingers to count off of. Nathan is now currently on the cover of eight different magazines.

We don’t know which front mag piece is our favorite: Surfing World? Transworld Surf? Surfer? On and on. To pick one over another would be too much of a “Sophie’s Choice” moment for us, and we just ain’t gonna do that.

But check out this cover from our friends over at Beach Brother Magazine. The French sure do know how to pick ‘em, don’t they? Oui, oui!

Nathan Fletcher on the cover of Beach Brother Magazine.

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