Another world-record shearing attempt - this time in Mangamahu

Simon Goss, of Mangamahu, will be attempting the world two-stand strong wool lambs record for eight hours alongside Jamie Skiffington of Rotorua. Photo / SSNZ

Another shearing record which has gone unchallenged for 20 years is to be tackled on Wednesday in a Mangamahu Valley woolshed northeast of Whanganui.

Jamie Skiffington, of Rotorua, and Simon Goss, of Mangamahu, will be attempting the world two-stand strong wool lambs record for eight hours.

The record of 1406 was set by Justin Bell (731) and Sean Edmonds (695) at Opepe Trust Farm, near Taupō, on December 16, 2002.

While the target will be to break the two-stand record - shearing an average of just over 88 lambs an hour each - also a possibility is the solo record, held by Bell for six years as a result of his achievement that day.

The solo record is now at 754, as set by Te Kūiti shearer Jack Fagan on December 22, shearing an average of 94.25 lambs an hour.

Skiffington has a best woolshed tally of more than 900 lambs in nine hours, without the constraints of rules set by the World Sheep Shearing Records Society, which will have a panel of five judges overseeing Wednesday’s attempt.

The judges will be headed by Scottish official Andy Rankin, of Edentaggart, north of Glasgow, with Robert McLaren, of Ashburton, travelling from the South Island to make up the New Zealand judging contingent with North Island panellists Ronnie King, Bart Hadfield and Neil Fagan.

Goss - the brother of women’s rugby legend and former shearer Sarah Hirini, and son of 1985 Golden Shears Intermediate shearing champion Alan Goss and late 2008 Golden Shears Open woolhandling champion Ronnie Goss - has a best nine-hour tally of just over 800.

But he has also had a successful competition career, winning more than a dozen lower-grade finals in 2010-2014 before taking a break to do a diesel mechanic apprenticeship.

He returned to shearing after that to be Shearing Sports New Zealand’s number-one-ranked senior shearer in the 2019-2020 season with 13 wins.

A major focus of the day will be fundraising for the Heart Foundation - particularly poignant for Goss, whose mother died after a heart attack while at a competition he was shearing at during his first season of Open-class competition in February 2021.

Subject to a Tuesday afternoon wool-weigh, when the shearing of 20 sample lambs must average over 0.9 kilograms each, the record bid will take place at The Shades, 3593 Mangamahu Rd, about 40 kilometres northeast of Whanganui by road.

It will start at 7am and comprise four two-hour runs, with half-hour breaks for morning and afternoon ‘smoko’ and an hour for lunch.

The weather in the area is forecast to be fine and cloudy with the temperature rising to about 25C on Wednesday, with humidity of 50-60 per cent.