World shearing records near Dubbo on tomorrow and Saturday

World shearing records near Dubbo on tomorrow and Saturday

Two Kiwi brothers are travelling across Australia to help two Australians break the World shearing records they set 12 years ago.

From Cambridge but now long-based in West Australia, Kattaning shearing contractor Michael-James Terry, 45, and 41-year-old brother Cartwright Terry, who lives in Baldivis, near Perth, hold the two-stand eight-hour fine-wooled merino record of 924, shorn at Westerdale, West Australia, on February 22, 2003.

During the day, Cartwright Terry, known as “Carty”, set a solo record of 466, while “M.J.” shore 458.

The record are being tackled on Saturday at Parkdale Stud, 36km northwest of Dubbo, NSW,

by Australian shearers Beau Guelfi and Bob White, culminating what promises to be two of the greatest days in the history of Australian woolshed shearing.

In the same shed tomorrow(Friday), Bathurst-based New Zealand shearer Stacey Te Huia will attempt the nine-hour record of 513 which was set near Kojonup, West Australia, on April 6, 2005, by Dwayne Back, another New Zealand-born shearer based in West Australia.

He has told Parkdale farmer Don Mudford he has his eyes on 600, but will need a to be on the pace right from the 5am start to forget his failed attempt on the strongwool record of 721 in New Zealand.

About to start work in a woolshed out of Katanning earlier this week, Carty Terry said the soft rolling skinned Poll merinos at Parkdale are “made” for tally-shearing, and he expects all three records to fall.

“They are good shearing for any record,” he said. “You couldn’t ask for any better.”

He says Te Huia is “more than capable” of breaking the nine-hour record, and Guelfi and White will break the two-stand record.

Guelfi, based for part of the year in Gisborne, New Zealand, and originally from Kukerin, WA, shore 461 as he, White and contractor Steve Mudford set a three-stand record of 1289 at Parkdale in April last year.

Terry, who was to have been part of that trio but withdrew to help others get their names into the books of the World Sheep Shearing Records Society, says both Guelfi and Tangie-based White, who is from Conargo, NSW, are capable of breaking his solo record.

The son of a former Waikato shearing contractor and having grown-up with shearing, he prepared for almost a year for his big day in 2003, but still almost had to pull-out during the last of the four two-hour runs.

He started the day with 114 from the 7.30am get-go to morning smoko, and followed with runs of 119, 118 and 115. Brother M.J. shore runs of 112, 116, 115 and 115.

In the nine-hour record being tackled by Te Huia starting at 5am on Friday, Black shore 112 in his first run of two hours to the one-hour breakfast break, followed by successive 1hr 45min runs of 103, 98, 99, and 101.

The records are being run by Shearing Industry Promotions and the referees appointed by the World Sheep Shearing Records Society for Friday are convenor Paul Harris, from New Zealand, and Australian officials Ralph Blue, Bernie Walker and Grant Borchardt, while Harris, Blue and Borchardt will be joined by Australia-based New Zealander Peter Black for Saturday’s two-stand record. Trainees and observers will be John Fraser, from New Zealand, and Arwyn Jones, from Wales.

ENDS

© Scoop Media