‘Horsepower’ gives cutting edge
You don’t expect to need a dictionary to understand the happenings at Canterbury’s biggest agricultural show, but there’s no denying there’s an art to the jargon being thrown around in the woodchopping area.
Competitors cited the ‘‘doughy’’ wood and claimed the axe was ‘‘sticking’’ to the logs, making for a slower than usual chop. Getting the ‘‘slant’’ just right was crucial, especially since the wood overseas was ‘‘much crispier’’, 19-year-old chopper Curtis Bennett said.
As four rivals ferociously smashed their axes into the blocks, disfiguring the rounds of wood and sending splinters flying, supporters belted out encouragement during the Junior Standing Championship in Christchurch yesterday.
‘‘Come on, rev up a bit,’’ Simon Bennett shouted at his son, barely audible over the cheering crowd and rhythmic thumps.
The youngest of the Bennett pair, who travelled from New South Wales on Tuesday for the NZ Agricultural Show, is a third generation woodchopper cutting under the tutelage of his father. The sport was about ‘‘having a crack’’, he said.
Curtis Bennett, 19, started chopping about a decade ago and hadn’t stopped splintering wood since. Inspired by his father and grandfather, both once keen choppers, he quickly picked up the technique. ‘‘I just thought one day I wouldn’t mind having a go . . . I trained on the Sunday, that was my first cut, and by the Monday we were off to all the shows.’’
While a bit of ‘‘horsepower’’ helped give any woodchopper the cutting edge, it was not essential in bringing home the win, Bennett said. ‘‘There’s a lot of small blokes that are really good.’’
Simon Bennett said while there was ‘‘certainly an art’’ to the sport, ‘‘there’s no substitute for strength’’.
‘‘We’re heavy for a reason, you’ve just got to use it.’’
Organisers said they had spent weeks preparing for the annual cutting programme, which included a veteran’s event, team race, and ladies underhand yesterday. Saw and butchers block championships will be held on today, followed by the chainsaw and axe throwing finals tomorrow.
About 100,000 people are expected to visit the Canterbury showgrounds, with plenty of activities for farmers and families sure to draw in the crowds.
In the woodchopping area, saucy hands clung to hotdogs protruding from sticks and children slopped fizzy drinks down their T-shirts as their eyes were glued to the action. The teachers’ strike, coupled with three days of sunny weather, were expected to boost numbers coming through the gates.
Elsewhere in the grounds, fellow athletes in the Strongman competition took to the stage in a show of strength, determination and stamina. Animals of all shapes and sizes also drew crowds, displaying their skills in the Dog Agility Show, the duck-herding event and at the petting zoo.
The show is open again from 8am to 5.30pm on today and tomorrow.