“Very calculated, and gung ho,” that’s how big wave surfing legend Garrett McNamara describes Andrew Cotton, the British big wave surfer who has spent the last few winters carving out a name for himself in the hallowed halls of global big wave surfing.

But it was last winter that the stars really aligned and sent this underground U.K. charger a succession of massive swells, and when push came to shove, it was up to him to be in the right spot at the right time.

From the frigid tubes of Mullaghmore, Ireland, to some of the biggest waves ever ridden in Nazaré Portugal, Cotty was there, etching his name into the history books with every ride.