Hawke's Bay boys tackle world shearing record in Australia

Lou Brown who, with brother Jim and cousin Imran Sullivan, is attempting a world shearing record in Western Australia. Photo / Supplied

Three shearers with strong Hawke's Bay links will tackle a world record on the tough, fine-wooled merino sheep of Western Australia on Saturday.

Brothers Lou and Jim Brown grew up in Napier and cousin and Australia-born Imran Sullivan's parents are from Hawke's Bay – father Stu, a shearing contractor in Kangaroo Island, is from Havelock North, and mother Huia Sullivan is from Hastings.

They moved to Australia in 1988, amid a wave of Hawke's Bay shearing whanau setting up camp in the shearing industry in Australia.

Lou Brown is already the holder of the world solo eight-hour merino ewes record, a tally of 497 set near Kojonup, in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, in April 2019, when he was 31.

He said at the time he had other records in mind and, with the coronavirus crisis putting the dream on hold, the time has arrived and the three will be tackling the eight-hours three-stand merino lambs record for merino lambs set by South Africans Ken Norman (456), Charles August (377), and Patrick Mulgase (375) near Trompsburg, Free State, in February 2003.

Norman emigrated to New Zealand, and with wife Stephe became a Tararua Farmer of the Year

The record attempt, of four two-hour runs with breaks for morning and afternoon tea and lunch and overseen by five judges appointed by the World Sheep Shearing Records Society, who will be headed by Tararua district farmer Ronnie King, will take place at Bella Vista, near Cranbrooke, also in the Great Southern Region of Western Australia.

The three will also be attempting to break the new solo record of 604, which was set less than a fortnight ago by Dunedin-born, Australia-based Koen Black, 20 years after the previous record of 570 was set by brother Dwayne Black.