Shearing: Scotland’s Una Cameron smashes Sacha Bond’s nine-hour strong wool ewes world record

Scottish shearer Una Cameron early in her world record of 517 strong wool ewes in nine hours in Cornwall, England.

A veteran Scottish shearer who is the only woman to qualify in the top 30 at the Golden Shears in Masterton has shattered a world record set by New Zealander Sacha Bond just six months ago.

Shearing at Trefranck Farm in Cornwall, 51-year-old Una Cameron was chasing Bond’s solo women’s nine-hour strong wool ewes record of 458 and finished at 4am today (New Zealand time), with a new record of 517.

Cameron shore 113 in the opening run of two hours and followed with successive 1hr 45min runs of 105, 101, 104 and 94.

In her record shorn near Mossburn, Southland, on February 9, Bond shore runs of 98, 91, 88, 91 and 90, in beating the previous record set six years earlier.

The attempt got the green light to go ahead when the wool weigh on Tuesday produced 35.38kg of wool from 10 sample sheep, comfortably over the minimum average of 3kg a sheep.

The wool weigh was overseen by a World Sheep Shearing Records Society referees panel, including New Zealand official Ronny King of Pahiatua.

Scottish shearer Una Cameron is the only woman to qualify in the top 30 at the Golden Shears in Masterton.

There was a strong New Zealand flavour behind the attempt, with the farm being run by New Zealander and record-breaking shearer Matt Smith, and short-term eight-hour women’s ewes record holder Amy Silcock among those helping in the pens.