After sitting untouched for more than two decades, a world lamb-shearing record has been toppled by a New Zealand pair who kicked off the New Year with a thrilling finish.
Simon Goss, 26, from Mangamahu, and Jamie Skiffington, 32, from Rotorua, edged past the 20-year two-stand record in the final minutes, having shorn 1410 strongwool lambs in eight hours.
The record was set on January 4 at The Shades, the Mangamahu sheep and beef property of Goss’s father Alan – himself the 1985 Golden Shears Intermediate Champion.
Hawke’s Bay farmer Justin Bell could also be found in the historic woolshed helping out with the record attempt – more than 20 years after he set the record at 1406 alongside Whanganui shearer Sean Edmonds.
After shearing from 7am to 5pm with three short breaks, the men registered final tallies of 715 lambs for Goss, with 182, 179, 179 and 175 for each of the four runs, and a total of 695 for Skiffington, with 166, 175, 177 and 177.
The record was the third to fall in three weeks, with 19-year-old Taihape shearer Rueben Alabaster beating the decade-old solo strongwool lamb record with a total of 747 lambs, only for Te Kūiti shearer Jack Fagan to beat it by eight lambs just two days later.
The record attempt also served as a fundraiser for the Heart Foundation, in tribute to Goss’s mother Ronnie Goss, a former Golden Shears woolhandling champion and industry legend, who died of a heart attack in 2021.
