Far North shearer Matthew Smith today launched himself into
the records book with a near perfect effort as he smashed the
world eight-hour ewe-shearing record northwest of Napier.
The 25-year-old, becoming one of the youngest men to set an
official record, breezed past the previous record of 560
about 3.45pm with about 15 minutes to go, and set a new mark
of 578.
Shearing in a remote shed on the hill-country prospective
windfarm Waitara Station, where he started with rain falling
outside at 6am, Smith shore successive two-hour tallies of
149, 144, 143 and 143, the new mark being derived after the
four judges ejected one ewe during the two-hour run to the
lunch break.
When Southland shearer Jimmy Clark set the previous record
two years ago, he shore runs of 140, 141, 139 and 140,
smashing the previous mark of 495 which had been set in 1999.
Chief judge Peter Black, from Australia, said that from a
magical start, Smith had got better during the day, and
finished with a quality rating of 10.93pts, comfortably
inside the limit of 12 which if breached at any time would
have resulted in a warning and possible disqualification.
How long Smith will hold the record is another matter, for Te
Kuiti shearer Stacey Te Huia is making a challenge next week,
hoping to be the first to shear 600 ewes in eight hours since
official world record structures were first put in place more
than 40 years ago.
