Hastings shearer Jean Pierre Bouyer had his first win in a shearing competition with a Senior final victory at the Central Hawke's Bay A and P Show on Saturday.
Bouyer, who turned 26 the following day, had shorn in only a small number of competitions, mainly in the Hawke's Bay - East Coast region and had been a finalist in most of them.
He made the big breakthrough in unique circumstances, with none of the four in the final having ever won a Senior title, among them David Gordon of Masterton and Tui Pene of Waipawa, who had however been top performers in the lower grades.
Bouyer burned off the opposition, shearing the eight sheep in 10min 39sec and maintaining the quality to beat runner-up Gordon by 1.175pts. More than 120 shearers and woolhandlers took part in the competitions across the grades, several having shorn at the Canterbury Show in Christchurch just 24 hours earlier.
These included Pongaroa farmer David Buick, who won the Open shearing final, having won the Manawatu title a week earlier and the Australian crossbred title in Warrnambool, Vic, another week before that.
