The weather forecast and Day 1 preview

It’s been a chilly arrival for about 150 shearers and woolhandlers from 27 countries in Masterton for the 20th Golden Shears World Shearing and Woolhandling Championshhips, but it will get better.

On Tuesday, temperatures of no more than 14C were forecast by national weather agency Metservice, but it was expected to clear in time for a 5pm powhiri,  traditional welcome from the people of Whakaoriori Masterton.

Increasingly fine weather was in the offing for the rest of the week, from the opening day on Wednesday, with temperatures up to 24C on Thursday, Friday and Saturday expected, completing the four days of competition, spanning 14-15 hours daily.

The championships are centred on the Masterton War Memorial Stadium, which was a new stadium designed for indoor sports and events when it was transformed into a competition woolshed for the first time in 1961.

But some early stages are being held in a marquee across the road in Queen Elizabeth Park, as organisers cope with a programme of 29 World Championships and annual Golden Shears event – over 600 competitors in total, with more than 6000 sheep to be shorn.

The Golden Shears has been the event that brought fame to Masterton and Wairarapa, as a global brand transforming shearing sports competition worldwide, with up to 600 shearers competing annually  before woolhandling was added to the programme in 1985.

As New Zealand sheep numbers declined, from a peak of 70 million in the early 1980s to below 30 million in the new millennium, so too did competitor numbers, and the number of competitions nationwide, from over 80 in the mid-1980s to currently under 60 on the Shearing Sports New Zealand calendar.

The World championships were first held in England in 1977 and have been usually held alongside traditional evets, including the annual Golden Shears in Masterton in 1980, 1986, 1996, and 2012, and more than 600 entries, from 27 countries, have been received for this week’s competition, comprising six World championships (individual and teams titles in machine shearing, blades shearing and woolhandling), and 23 other annual Golden Shears events and associated titles.

The programme starts at 7am daily, and six Golden Shears titles will be decided on the opening day, as the buildup starts towards the World Championships teams finals on Friday night, and the individual finals and glamour Golden Shears Open shearing and woolhandling finals on Saturday night.

A “Students Challenge” will be the first event to be decided and other titles, and heats through to finals will also be completed in the Golden Shears Novice Woolhandling, Junior Woolhandling, Senior Woolhandling, Novice Shearing, Junior Shearing, and Intermediate Shearing by the end of the day, which will also include Senior shearing heats.

Many World Championships competitors, including supporters from around the World will be honing their skills in the opening-day events, ahead of the first World Championships rounds on Thursday.

The Golden Shears World Council also meets during the week, deciding which of three applicannts will host the next championships.