Aussie ute record attempt bogged up

AAP

4 Oct, 2009 10:16 PM2 mins to read

A NSW town's shot at the world record for the largest parade of legally-registered utes has been postponed the attempt until next year because of heavy rains. Photo supplied

SYDNEY - A NSW town's shot at the world record for the largest parade of legally-registered utes has become bogged in the mud, with organisers forced to postpone the attempt until next year because of heavy rains.

Deniliquin in southern New South Wales already holds the record for a 1999 attempt, which saw 2839 drivers taking part.

Last year the town set a new unofficial record of 7242 but at the 2009 Deni Ute Muster it had hoped to make that official with a 10,000-strong field.

The Deni Ute Muster is one of the largest rural themed festivals in Australia reports The Australian.

Last year the event attracted 7242 utes and was said to have brought more than AU$13 million (NZ$15.7 million) into the Deniliquin town and region.

However on Sunday morning organisers were forced to call off the attempt because of a soggy festival site, caused by 73mm of rain early in the week and more rain over the weekend.

Deniliquin will try again at next year's Ute Muster.

Event director John Harvie said organisers were concerned about safety and possible damage to their 130 acre festival site.

"We were going to run the utes from the camping areas right through the centre of the main festival arena, out to an area at the back of the site and do some twists and turns there because we had to travel a minimum of 3.2km," said Harvie.

"Having assessed it today and Friday, we just thought it was going to be too much of a safety risk and also do some damage to our site. We'll try it again and hopefully we'll be able to work with authorities and have it on a road somewhere."

But the weekend was not a complete loss for Deni when it came to breaking world records.

Despite wind and rain, on Saturday 2,230 ute fans stripped down to singlets to set a world record for the largest gathering of people in blue shearers' singlets.

- AAP