Mr Dillon, of Riversdale in Northern Southland and Malcolm Taylor, of Waikato, will represent New Zealand at the 71st World Ploughing Championship in Osijek, Croatia, September 5-6.
Mr Dillon’s wife, Sonia Dillon, said she made a booking with agent Oceanbridge Shipping in April, to get shipping company MSC to transport a container from New Zealand to Croatia.
The container, which included both competitors’ tractors, ploughs, tools, parts and uniforms, was loaded in Dunedin on May 20.
Oceanbridge told her the container would arrive in Croatia on July 4, which gave them plenty of time for to prepare the gear for practice to gain an understanding of the soil.
A delay in the container leaving Dunedin added another 20 days to the arrival time.
They were relaxed about the delay, as they had booked early and could make it work.
Concerns started to arise when they were tracking the location of the container ship online earlier this month to find it floating near Tasmania, when it should have been closer to Croatia.
She called her agent and was told the container was now expected to arrive in Croatia on August 28.
The ship carrying their container was docked in Wellington on Sunday.
‘‘It’s still got to go to Napier and ... to Tauranga before it even makes its way over to start the Panama process.’’
After arriving at a port in western Croatia, the gear needed to be checked by customs and then transported to Osijek.
The team was scheduled to meet in Croatia to start practising on their own gear, August 11.
Although the competition started on September 5, the event began on August 28 including judges scrutinising gear.
Oceanbridge had been working hard to find a way to get the container to Croatia sooner, Mrs Dillon said.
Shipping company MSC had ‘‘shrugged its shoulders and disappeared from the conversation’’ including answering questions on why the container had returned to New Zealand.
She had been on the phone searching for a better way to get the gear to Croatia earlier.
‘‘We’re always hopeful.’’
The worst-case scenario would be the New Zealand ploughmen borrowing gear to compete.
If they borrowed gear, they would need to learn how to best use it.
‘‘It’s the same as using someone else’s golf clubs or borrowing a race car for a competition that you’ve been training for.’’
She thanked the sponsors for their continued support.
‘‘We feel pretty bad for them.
‘‘They have invested in us to go over there and do the best for the competition, and it kind of feels like we’re letting everyone down.’’
MSG did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.
