Million-dollar venue goes off on a great clip

The "father and son" shearers line up for a photo after entertaining the large crowd at the new Waimate Shears pavilion on Saturday afternoon. The shearers included guest of honour Sir David Fagan and his son, Jack, second and third from front right, respectively. Photo / Sally Brooker

The 50th Waimate Shears attracted a large crowd as well as shearing royalty to the new million-dollar pavilion at the Waimate Showgrounds on Friday and Saturday.

The half-century was celebrated with the pavilion's first use for its  primary function - hosting the event that remains a prominent fixture on the shearing sports calendar and a big drawcard for the small South Canterbury town.

Sir David Fagan, who was knighted for his services to shearing, was delighted to be a special guest.

Jack Fagan switches on the shearing machine for his father, Sir David Fagan, halfway through the Waimate Shears "father and son" event.

"We've had a good couple of days," he said on Saturday afternoon, having just competed in the "father and son" event with son Jack.

The Shears began with a dinner on Thursday night, attended by about 200.

"Seeing so many old faces there ... it was a special night," Sir David said.

A highlight was president Warren White, a Waimate-based shearing contractor who has led the organising committee for 11 years, being made a life member. He was instrumental in joining forces with the Southern Canterbury A&P Association to have the 900sqm pavilion completed on time, after two years' planning and fundraising.

Mr White was also awarded the honour of shearing the first sheep in it.Sir David, who has been attending the Waimate Shears since he was in the senior competition in 1980 and won the main title 10 times, said he had  some great memories of the event.

The pavilion was "a real credit to the committee and Warren White, and also the Waimate community and the A&P Association."

"It's an example to the rest of the country. Lots of these competitions have folded. It's too easy to let these things go."

Jack Fagan, of Te Kuiti, who won the Open Invitation Plate, said the pavilion was "one of a kind".

Committee executive officer Eileen Smith said it was "a great weekend". The number of shearers and woolhandlers competing was on a par with other years. Crowd numbers were well up thanks to the golden anniversary and the new amenities.

Results from the 50th Waimate Shears and New Zealand Spring Shearing and Woolhandling Championships at Waimate on October 13-14:International:Transtasman Blade Shearing Test (four sheep): New Zealand (Tony Dobbs 11min 50.06sec, 51.753pts; Phil Oldfield 12min 59.91sec. 80.4455pts) 132.1985pts beat Australia (Ken French 11min 44.82sec, 84.241pts; John Dalla 11min 20.94sec, 89.797pts) 174.038pts. A return match will be held in Bendigo on October 27.

New Zealand Spring Shearing Championships:Open final (16 sheep): Nathan Stratford (Invercargill) 16min 53.31sec, 58.853pts, 1; Troy Pyper (Winton) 16min 1.2sec, 61.81pts, 2; Paerata Abraham (Masterton) 16min 2.94sec, 65.2095pts, 3; Grant Smith (Rakaia) 19min 4.56sec, 69.6655pts, 4; Brook Todd 17min 47.77sec, 70.576pts, 5; Stacey Te Huia (Forbes, NSW/Te Kuiti) 16min 46.46sec, 78.948pts, 6.

Open Invitation Plate (10 sheep): Jack Fagan (Te Kuiti) 11min 2.94sec, 45.247pts, 1; Andy Mainland (Invercargill) 11min 43.46sec, 47.773pts, 2; Colin O'Neill (Alexandra) 11min 54.16secs, 48.308pts, 3; Ringakaha Paewai (Gore) 11min 19.43sec, 48.3715pts, 4; Ethan Pankhurst (Masterton) 12min 34.49sec, 48.9245pts, 5; John Dalla (South Australia) 12min 2.35sec, 62.2175pts, 6.Senior final (eight sheep): Corey Smith (Rakaia) 10min 53.44sec, 43.797pts, 1; Linton Palmer (Dipton) 10min 53.25sec, 45.5375pts, 2; Lionel Taumata (Gore) 10min 47.4sec, 46.12pts, 3; David Gower (Stratford) 9min 36.53sec, 46.8625pts, 4; Corey White (Waimate) 10min 30.78sec, 46.914pts, 5; Vahni Stringer (Ranfurly) 11min 12.74sec, 47.887pts, 6.

Intermediate final (five sheep): Liam Norrie (Cheviot) 10min 212.18sec, 40.809pts, 1; Brandon Maguire-Ratima (Winton) 9min 19.17sec, 41.1585pts, 2; Jesse Barclay (Gore) 9min 12.87sec, 41.2435pts, 3; Duncan Higgins (Havelock) 9min 14.78sec, 43.139pts, 4; Ben Martin (Lawrence) 9min 15.7sec, 50.385pts, 5; Sam Bryan (Darfield) 10min 25.11sec, 51.0555pts, 6.

Junior final (three sheep): Brodie Horrell (Gore) 6min 34.62sec, 32.3976pts, 1; Darcy Tong (Taihape) 9min 52.6sec, 38.63pts, 2; Jonah Collins (n/a) 7min 49.72sec, 41.8193pts, 3; Jonathan Painter (Pahiatua) 8min 51.84sec, 42.9253pts, 4; Mitchell Menzies (Ranfurly) 7min 54.64sec, 48.3986pts, 5; Fred Highton (England) 10min 8.59sec, 57.0961pts, 6.
Blade shearing:Open final (four sheep): Tony Dobbs (Fairlie) 12min 8.83sec, 49.6915pts, 1; Mike McConnell (Cave) 12min 56.42sec, 52.571pts, 2; Phil Oldfield (Geraldine) 13min 23.25sec, 59.4125pts, 3; John Dalla (South Australia) 13min 29.41sec, 59.9705pts, 4; Ken French (Vic, Aust) 13min 55.75sec, 71.5375pts, 5; Billy Michelle (Timaru) 11min 27.34sec, 71.867pts, 6.

Intermediate final (two sheep): Wiremu Kihi (Springfield) 10min 47.43sec, 62.8715pts, 1; Marohi Kennedy (Kaikoura) 9min 29.44sec, 65.472pts, 2; Andrew Murray (Australia) 134min 27.97sec, 74.8985pts, 3; Dallas Gorrie (Balclutha) 8min 34.22sec, 80.711pts, 4; Emarina Watson (North Canterbury) 12min 0.28sec, 88.514pts, 5; Paul Gallagher (Fairlie) 11min 33.5sec, 101.175pts, 6.

Woolhandling:Open final: Joel Henare (Gisborne/Dunedin) 69.556pts, 1; Foonie Waihape (Gisborne) 100.58pts, 2; Logan Kamura (Marton) 131.156pts, 3; Tina Elers (Mataura) 138.844pts, 4.Senior final: Ebony Turipa (Gore) 96.588pts, 1; Nova Kumeroa Elers (Mataura) 110.712pts, 2; Lashara Anderson (Christchurch) 114.278pts, 3; Maiden Elers (Mataura) 122.618pts, 4.

Junior final: Tyler Hira (Onewhero) 82.38pts, 1; Linda Duncan (Alexandra) 107.94pts, 2; Shanae Daniels (n/a) 124.776pts, 3; Autumn Hiri (Gore) 129.03pts, 4.