Defending The Title At Tapawera

Former Southland shearer Floyd Haare successfully defended the Tapawera Shears Open shearing title when the annual competition was held south of Nelson on Saturday.

Haare, 35, now based at Bainham, near Collingwood, dominated the four-man final shearing the 20 sheep in 19min 24.22sec, beating second-man-off and eventual runner-up Nick Nalder, of Takaka, by more than two sheep, a buffer of almost 9pts on time.

There were more than two minutes back to veteran Blenheim competitor Chris Jones, who won the Open Plate at Tapawera last year, and who at the age of almost 65 has competed at all three top-of-the-south shows so far this season, also finishing third at the Marlborough show in October.

There were nine shearers in the Open-class at Tapawera, among 19 shearers across the four classes, notably Lydia Thomson, who has now shorn in 10 finals this season for seven wins, including two national title wins, at the Corriedales championships in Christchurch and the crossbred lambs championships at Winton.

She was also runner-up in two other national title events, on the longwool of the Waimate Spring Shears and the full wool of the Northern Southland Community Shears near Lumsden.

Headed for the Intermediate grade next season and having recently shorn 200 ewes in a day at work for the first time, Thomson also won a women’s event on Saturday, and in the Clean Shear was third behind Jones and Senior final winner Timo Hicks, of Tapawera. The Intermediate final was won by Dylan Hamlin of Bainham.

Despite the smaller number of entries, Lyn Baigent, who does the points at al the shows in the region, said it was a good day - "but hot."

The next event in the wider top-of-the-south region is the West Coast’s only competition, at Reefton next Saturday, followed by the Murchison A and P Show on February 18.

RESULTS of the Tapawera Sports Shears at Tapawera, Tasman, on Saturday, January 28, 2023:

Open final (20 sheep): Floyd Haare (Bainham) 19min 24.22sec, 67.26pts, 1; Nick Nalder (Takaka) 22min 17.22sec, 78.66pts, 2; Chris Jones (Blenheim) 24min 25.31sec, 80.57pts, 3; Thomas Lambert (Christchurch) 25min 16.75sec, 89.79pts, 4.

Open Plate (10 sheep): Robert Herbert (Kaikoura) 13min 8.16sec, 50.51pts, 1; Roger Simpson (Tapawera) 13min 16.06sec, 51.8pts, 2; Kerry Irvine (Tapawera) 15min 2.63sec, 55.83pts, 3; Enkhnasan Chuluunbaatar (Mongolia/Takaka) 14min 6.32sec, 56.72pts, 4.

Senior final (10 sheep): Timo Hicks (Tapawera) 13min 14.88sec, 49.44pts, 1; Hamish Barker (Tapawera) 13min 38.21sec, 58.51pts, 2.

Intermediate final (4 sheep): Dylan Hamlin (Bainham) 6min 39.69sec, 29.23pts, 1; Alex Kiriakos (England) 6min 49sec, 36.7pts, 2; Kimberley MacLean (Motueka) 8min 28.75sec, 36.94pts, 3; Pam Irvine (Tapawera) 11min 55.56sec, 49.78pts, 4.

Junior final (2 sheep): Lydia Thomson (Rangiora) 5min 38.03sec, 29.9pts, 1; Campbell Barker (Tapawera) 5min 33.1sec, 33.66pts, 2; Sam MacLean (Motueka) 7min 48.31sec, 46.92pts, 3; Amy McNeil (Scotland) 6min 45.47sec, 47.27pts, 4.

Women (3 sheep): Lydia Thomson (Rangiora) 7min 14.63sec, 29.73pts, 1; Kimberley MacLean (Motueka) 7min 59.31sec, 33.63pts, 2; Pam Irvine (Tapawera) 8min 55.65sec, 41.45pts, 3; Amy McNeil (Scotland) 11min 2.13sec, 64.44pts, 4.

Clean Shears (2 sheep): Chris Jones (Blenheim) 6.5pts, 1; Timo Hicks (Tapawera) 8pts, 2; Lydia Thomson (Rangiora) 8.5pts, 3; Floyd Haare (Bainham) 8.5pts, 4.

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