Shearing record smashed by hot five in King Country woolshed   7 Jan 2015

The World five-stand strongwool lambshearing record for eight hours was smashed in the heat of a King Country woolshed today.

Pio Pio contractor Mark Barrowcliffe’s gang peeled-off 2910 lambs, beating the previous record of 2638 set in December 2013.

The record took place at Ingleby Corporation’s Puketiti Station, off remote Haku Rd, about 25 minutes west of Pio Pio, with more than 150 supporters and spectators packing the shed towards the end of the day which started at 7am and finished at 5pm, with half-hour breaks for morning and afternoon smoko and an hour off for lunch.

Heading the individual tallies were former Golden Shears Junior and Intermediate champion Ringa Paewai, of Dannevirke, who shore 618, and Willie Hewitson, a former Royual Welsh Show senior champion from Woodlands, Southland, and who shore 603.

Aidan Copp, of West Melton, Christchurch, shore 586, Jock Macdonald, the only local and son of former World record holder and World champion Alan MacDonald, shore 564, and George Parker, from Kinston, South Australia, shore 539.

All shore more than the average 528 per shearer needed to challenge the previous record, and with successive combined two-hour run tallies of 731, 728, 723 and 728 were constantly well over the average 660 required per run.

Two of the previous record-breaking gang, Waikaretu contractor Sam Welch and South Island shearer Angus Moore, have up a day’s shearing in the Waikato-Coromandel region ro see their record go and were among the first to congratulate the new holders.

It was the first of four record attempts this summer notified to the World Sheep Shearing Records Society, which had a chiefjudge from Australia and six other officials from the North and South islands at Puketiti for the day.

More than 3000 people around the World followed Shearing Sports New Zealand updates, and a French television crew was at the station throughout the day shooting for a documentary.

Run-by-ran and day tallies for the five record-breakers, listed from stands one to five, were: Aidan Copp (145, 141, 144, 156) 586; Ringa Paewai (153, 154, 155, 156) 618; Willie Hewitson (151, 154, 152, 146) 603; George Parker (136, 136, 135, 132) 539; Jock MacDonald (146, 143, 137, 138) 564

ENDS

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