WORLD CLASS

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31871, 26 December 1968, Page 7

WORLD CLASS

A New Zealand butcher’s block championship will be an innovation at the axemen’s carnival at Kaikoura on January 4. The organ-

isers believe that this will be the first time that the butcher’s block championship, a 24in standing chop, has been held in New Zealand.

The championship is for; two-man teams and 12 pairs are expected to compete. The winning team is expected to chop its way through the monster log in about two minutes. Perhaps the performance is brought into better perspective when it is realised that the log is as “big as a 44-gallon drum.” This and another New’ Zealand championship, a 12in jigger board contest, have attracter a world class field, with several competitors having the equivalent of world championships to their credit. The fields will include five men who have successfully represented New Zealand in international contests in Canada and Australia, three of them having competed in both countries. D. Lamberton (Tokaroa) was the champion of champions in the world international events in Canada in 1967, where L. Gilsenen (Nelson) won the jigger board championship. Another member of that team was G. Hocquard. Two others who have competed in events at the Sydney Show are A. Rose (Nelson) and D. Sevmour (West Coast). MMMMGMWWhWWA

Other outstanding competitors, especially in the jigger board championship, will be M. Smith (Kaikoura), winner of the New Zealand jigger board championship for the last three years, D. Gibson (Nelson), the South Island champion, and C. Hughes (Auckland). With about 60 competitors for each of the handicap events, it will be a busy programme from the start at 10.30 a.m. until about 4 p.m., j except for a break for luneh. ;Among the other entertainments, the Kaikoura Lions ! Club will be operating a chocolate wheel as part of : their fund raising for the new swimming pool.