A glance at the short list of winners of Surfline’s Wave of the Winter, awarded every year to the rider of the single best wave on the North Shore during the contest period, gives a further idea of Ricardo’s ability in the barrel. It also underlines the nature of his achievement. Besides Ricardo, since its inauguration in 2010 it has been won by Kalani Chapman, Reef McIntosh, and most recently Kelly Slater — two Hawaiian Pipe specialists, that is, and the greatest surfer in the history of the sport.