DC Shoes Relentless Progression raises the bar for South African Skateboarding

The biggest contest on the South African Skateboarding calendar went down at Wave House Durban last weekend in the newly renovated pro section of the skatepark. Having only been completed a few days before the comp it seemed every second run was discovering a fresh line, which created a lot of innovation and plenty of bails.

DC Shoes have been making a big splash in the South African skateboarding scene. Their ever expanding team includes some of the best talent in the country and their goal is to push the local level onward and upward. The Relentless Progression contest took things to a new level with the largest prize purse in SA’s skating history. Between the contest and the two best trick events, over R30 000 (and an Xbox 360) was there for the taking.

Competitors flocked in from every corner of the country to take a stab at walking home with the big bucks and to check out the new park. With a more open design, plenty of transition and the chance to draw some fast lines everyone was stoked with the setup.

The qualifying rounds gave each entrant two 90 second runs with their best run used to choose ten skaters to go through to the final. Cape Town’s street master Alan Marola was one of the favourites to win but couldn’t quite hold it together. Likewise locals Kalvyn Davies and Andrew Carrie, whose home park advantage had been somewhat reduced by the freshness of the layout.

The finals were a close call, with the top four scoring runs being very close. Yann Horowitz, Lloyd Hodoul, Simon Stipcich and Sandile Maphumolo all had some bangers. Dlamini Dlamini and George Van Blerk were right up there, but Moses Adams from Cape Town showed why he has been consistently claimed as South Africa’s most likely candidate for an international career.

Moses swept everyone away, taking the main event as well as both Best Trick contests. He had the crowd on their feet and screaming and was pulling stuff out of his trick bag that was clean, stylish and had jaws dropping.

The breadth and depth of talent in South African skating has grown rapidly in recent years and parks like Wave House have been a big part of that. Relentless Progression has raised things to a new level and it’s gonna be exciting seeing where things go from here.

Final Results

DC Relentless Progression

1st Gavin “Moses” Adams
2nd Yann Horowitz
3rd Simon Stipcich
4th Dlamini Dlamini

Red Bull “Gives you wings” Best trick on the Hip

Gavin “Moses” Adams - Tre flip tail grab.

Nixon “ Bring the Noise” Best Trick on the Bank

Gavin “Moses” Adams - Tre flip 50 grind, 180 out.