Irish shearer Ivan Scott blasts his way to a new world lambshearing record, with Napier shearer and farmer Chris Kyle (left) monitoring the time and fellow record-breaker Matt Smith, also from Hawke's Bay, helping in the pens and with the gear. Photo / Emily Fleur Country Photography
Irish shearer Ivan Scott blasts his way to a new world lambshearing record, with Napier shearer and farmer Chris Kyle (left) monitoring the time and fellow record-breaker Matt Smith, also from Hawke's Bay, helping in the pens and with the gear. Photo / Emily Fleur Country Photography
Hawke's Bay shearer Matt Smith and Irish gun Ivan Scott had little time to rest up after claiming the two most revered records in shearing in England.
Making time for a pretty good night after Scott broke the world nine-hour lambshearing record by just one lamb on Monday morning (NZtime), the pair then spent two days drafting to sheep to make sure about 1000 lambs got back to the right mums and right farms - all seven of them.
It highlighted the extra miles the two had to go to in their records at Trefranck Farm in Cornwall, Smith posting a nine-hour strongwool ewes record of 731 on July 26 and Scott the lambs record of 867 of five days later.
Scott, whose record was delayed two days because of rain, said they had started with about 1500 lambs from as far as 1hr:40min away from Trefranck, but with "sprints" during his preparation, culling of some of the lambs as unsuitable, and the World Shearing Records Society judges' removal of some lambs as not meeting the requirements, they were left with just 930 for the big day.
During the morning, judges rejected three of his shorn lambs as not meeting quality standards and the record came down to getting his hand on to the catching-pen door for the record-breaking lamb before 5pm, then waiting anxiously to hear no more had been rejected in the last count-out of the day.
There weren't and it was only then it was confirmed he had broken the previous record of 866 held by Hawke's Bay shearer and now also Wairarapa farmer Dion King in a King Country woolshed January 2007, three weeks before fellow Hawke's Bay shearer Rodney Sutton, now of Ashburton, shore 721 ewes in a day in the same shed, the record broken by Smith last week.
Plans are afoot for a three-stand record bid early next year at Waitara Station, near Te Haroto, where Smith broke the eight-hour ewes record in 2010 and brothers Rowland and Doug set a two-stand record a year later.-
