Shearing: Floyd Haare wins open final at Tapawera

Another shearer from Southland has joined the list of open shearing competition winners this season with Floyd Haare’s victory on Saturday at the Tapawera Shears, southwest of Nelson.

Thirty-four-year-old Haare is originally from Ohai and has been a competition shearer off-and-on since 2004. He has been living in Collingwood for a year and a half now.

Haare hadn’t shorn a competition since mid-February last year, two weeks after scoring his first open win, at the Inangahua A and P Show’s Reefton Shears.

He became the fifth open-final winner from Southland this season, collectively winning eight of the 12 titles decided.

Saturday’s victory was also only his fifth win across the grades since he started in 2004-2005, but he was able to beat event favourites Jack Fagan and Paul Hodges, who had flown from Auckland for the day, after Fagan’s win in the North Island Speedshear Championship in hometown Te Kuiti on Friday night.

Hodges, from Geraldine, won the race over the 20-sheep final, finishing in 18min 27.97sec, but Haare was next, beating recent world record breaker Fagan by half a minute and with the best quality points, he was able to hold out the day-trippers in the final calculations, winning ultimately by 1.52pts from Fagan, with Hodges third.

Fourth was Haare’s employer, Takaka shearing contractor and 2018 winner Nick Nalder.

There were eight in the open class, but just 13 across the grades, with none in the senior class.

Two others took part in a women’s event, won by regular competitor Kimberley MacLean, of Motueka.

The low numbers again highlighted the industry’s struggles with Covid restrictions, which has seen 24 competitions cancelled throughout the country and shortages of shearers in the workplace, without numbers usually bolstered by shearers from overseas.

Haare had won the national longwool ewes title at Lumsden in 2005 and repeated the effort in the senior event four years later, followed the next day with a national senior crossbred lambs title.

He reckoned he was just there to make up the numbers at Tapawera and said after the win: “I’m still trying to wrap my head around it all. I honestly didn’t think I was going to win today.”

“It was a great outcome though, and I can’t wait for the next show,” he said, looking forward to a defence of the Reefton Shears title on February 5 this year at Ikamatua, covid-willing.

As so often in the shearing industry, it’s been a family thing – Haare’s father, who died in November, having been a shearer and his mum still working as a woolhandler.

Although his dad didn’t shear in competitions, father-of-two Haare said: “He helped me through my show career and was the best shearer in the world in my eyes, even with no show or speedshear titles.”

Results from the Tapawera Shears at Tapawera Recreation Reserve on Saturday, January 22, 2022:

Open final (20 sheep): Floyd Haare (Collingwood) 19min 12.81sec, 66.04pts, 1; Jack Fagan (Te Kuiti) 19min 42.21sec, 67.56pts, 2; Paul Hodges (Geraldine) 18min 27.97sec, 68.6pts, 3; Nick Nalder (Takaka) 21min 0.03sec, 75.9pts, 4.

Open Plate (10 sheep): Chris Jones (Blenheim) 12min 44.94sec, 45.55pts, 1; Enkhnasan Cluluunbaatar (Mongolia/Takaka) 13min 53.34sec, 50.47pts, 2; Frank Bint (Tapawera) 12min 56.68sec, 50.93pts, 3; Baden Barker (Tapawera) 13min 23sec, 54.95pts, 4.

Intermediate final (3 sheep): Timo Hicks (Tapawera) 6min 50.53sec, 24.53pts, 1; Sam Hodgkinson (Tapawera) 6min 21.66sec, 25.75pts, 2; Kimberley MacLean (Motueka) 7min 46sec, 28.3pts, 3; Pam Irvine (Tapawera) 9min 29.4sec, 38.8pts, 4..

Junior final (3 sheep): Dylan Hamlin (Collingwood) 4min 58.13sec, 20.57pts, 1; Bryce Win (Tapawera) 6min 10.84sec, 25.54pts, 2.

Women (3 sheep): Kimberley MacLean (Motueka) 7min 32.81sec, 26.97pts, 1; Emma Hodgkinson (Tapawera) 8min 53.37sec, 38.67pts, 2; Pam Irvine (Tapawera) 8min 41.28sec, 39.4pts, 3.

Cleanshear (2 sheep – Open 3min, Intermediate 5min): Jack Fagan (Te Kuiti) 4pts, 1; Kimberley MacLean (Motueka) 8.5pts, 2; Timo Hicks (Tapawera) 9pts, 3; Nick Nalder (Takaka) 10pts, 4.

Speedshear:

Open: Jack Fagan (Te Kuiti) 1; Paul Hodges (Geraldine) 2.

Intermediate/Junior (cleanshear): Timo Hicks (Tapawera) 1; Pam Irvine (Tapawera) 2.