| Nathan Fletcher wins the "Ride of the Year" at the 2012 Billabong XXL Awards |
| Saturday, 05 May 2012 10:32 |
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Nathan Fletcher has conquered the "Ride of the Year" at the 2012 Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards, in Anaheim, California. The "Oscars" of extreme surfing have been finally delivered in a packed and stoked Grove Theater.
"Three huge lumps appeared on the horizon, we picked the biggest one and Andrew Cotton towed me in," recalls McNamara of his monster wave off the town of Nazaré, in Portugal. "I remember dropping and dropping, then punching it off the bottom and wanting to get up into the tube, but it just exploded and landed right on my shoulder and felt like a ton of bricks". "I just focused on making it and somehow cruised out to the end. At that moment I didn't have any idea that ride was going to get so much attention, all I was thinking was 'put me deeper on the next one'", McNamara added. The votes of the judges also went to the epic wave rides of Nathan Fletcher (Monster Tube), Dave Wassel (Monster Paddle), Garrett McNamara (XXL Biggest Wave), Garrett McNamara (Wipeout of the Year), Nathan Fletcher (Overall Performance) and Maya Gabeira (Girls Performance) The best big wave surfers in the world gathered to honour the most incredible stunts in the field of extreme surfing. Portugal, Hawaii, Australia, USA, French Polynesia and Tahiti were some of the spots where huge walls of water were ridden by talented cold-blooded surfers. Watch the "Ride of the Year" 2012 entries. Winners of the 2012 Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards: Ride of the Year: Nathan Fletcher |










