World shearing record smashed near Dannevirke

A world shearing record set between Napier and Taupō seven years ago has been smashed in a sweltering woolshed near Dannevirke.

Starting at 7am on Thursday at Pohuetai, Dannevirke-based shearers Hemi Braddick, of Eketāhuna, Flynn Harvey, from Kaitāia, and Ray Kinsman from Fairlie were attempting to break the three-stand eight-hours record and, with each averaging over 70 sheep an hour, passed the 1611 target 35 minutes before the last sheep went down the shute just after 5pm.

A new record of 1745 was confirmed by World Sheep Shearing Records Society refereeing panel convenor Dave Brooker, of South Australia, soon afterwards.

Attention over the last half-hour focused on Braddick’s bid for a personal tally of 600, having shorn successive tallies of 151, 148 and 150 in the first three of the four two-hour runs.

He missed by one, finishing on 599, Harvey sheared 581 and Kinsman 565, with a small number of shorn sheep rejected from the tallies during what was the seventh of eight record attempts in New Zealand from mid-December to mid-February, in the standard woolshed days of eight or nine hours and guided by sheep age and wool-weight requirements set by the records society.

Among those present was shearer Luke Mullins, who had the highest tally (554) when the previous record was set at Waitara Station on January 17, 2017, while also present were Gisborne farmer and shearer Catherine Mullooly, who sheared a women’s solo record of 465 last week, and Rowland Smith, of Maraekakaho, who sheared the men’s solo record of 644 in England in mid-2017.