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.