Mark Dillon: Five-time New Zealand Ploughing Champion on the NZ team's equipment going missing at sea on the way to the World Ploughing Championships
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Where did the New Zealand ploughing team's tractors and gear go missing?
So our top ploughing champions, they're off to the World Champs. World Champs are in Croatia. A small issue there, tractors, ploughs and gear have gone missing at sea. So the scramble's on. Anyway, Mark Dillon's our five-time New Zealand ploughing champion. He's with us. Mark, morning.
Morning, Mark.
Do you know literally where they are or they're just out there somewhere?
They're on their way from Australia back to New Zealand, which is the wrong direction, really.
That would be true because I know where Croatia is and it's not this way. So how did that happen and does it matter, I suppose? I mean, is it a massive cock-up?
Oh yeah, the gear was meant to be over there in a couple of weeks in Croatia, so it was going to hit a time, so if we had any hiccups, we had a bit of a buffer, but it's not, so apparently it missed a ship in Sydney or got loaded onto the wrong output, and then they decided to send it home rather than sending it from Sydney to Croatia.
Will you be able to get it there or not?
Well, hopefully we can pull a magic rabbit out of our hat and someone can come on board and give us a hand, but it's not looking real promising at the moment.
Okay. Do you need your gear for this? Could you jump on any tractor with any plough and feel competitive, or is it a personal thing?
No, no. We need our own gear. It's like playing golf with someone else with golf cups or using someone else's boat, if you're wrong, or something like that. We tailor our own gear. I've just spent an extortionate amount of money on my gear, modifying it because it's been away at the world's end. Yeah, we're trying stuff to make it more competitive, and then we're not even going to get to use it.
Is this going to mess with your head?
Oh, it's not audio. We'll make things challenging, but we'll have to try and get word of pass at some point.
How did the shipping mistake redirect equipment from Sydney back to New Zealand?
What's it worth? When you say it's expensive, what's it worth? What's the tractor and plough and all that stuff with the modifications?
Well, the amount of errors I've put into it, it's hard to even keep track of. If you're getting paid for it, it'll be over $100,000, but it's not worth it. All the wee bits and pieces you do to it. help you on the day to give you that edge or hopefully that's what we plan to give ourselves an edge.
Yeah, exactly. So there's nothing you can do. It'll either be there or it won't. You're backing yourself in general terms. Were you going into this as six-time, thinking six-time?
Well, yeah, just as I said, I've done all these miles to the track and play. I've got it really, really well. And I've had our three-time world champion, our Scott Thomas Cochran, come on board as our coach as well. So I was hoping he was going to lift me to the next level and get us a bit further up the placings.
What's a coach do in ploughing?
Well, he's just critiquing what we're doing and just watching how the soil's rolling off the boards and what we can do better.
Can the team still get their tractors and ploughs to Croatia in time?
Yeah, it's just like any coach, they're watching and encouraging you and giving you the guidance.
And is location a big deal? Does it matter, you know, soil quality, size of paddock, you know, location, weather, all that stuff? Does that make a difference?
Weather can make a big difference. Last year when we were ploughing in Prague, it was really, really dry, which made it really challenging. The two years before that, we were in Estonia and it was really dry then. We had a lot of rain and that changed ground conditions and made it more favourable.
That's a very European sort of competition. We're holding it, aren't we? When are we holding it? In 29?
29, yeah. We're actually hosting it down here in Southend.
So you would get a home paddock advantage?
Well, that's the plan, yeah. There's a big picture here we're trying to build into. We'll be ploughing it the next two to three years.
Why is having customised gear so important for competitive ploughing?
which I've called for for next year already, and then just keep building myself up the ladder so the plan is to have a really good go at it when we're hosting it here at home.
Good on you. Well, all I can do is wish you the best with the gear and wish you the best with the competition itself.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
Where did the New Zealand ploughing team's tractors and gear go missing?
0:00–1:28
2
How did the shipping mistake redirect equipment from Sydney back to New Zealand?
1:28–2:24
3
Can the team still get their tractors and ploughs to Croatia in time?
2:24–3:08
4
Why is having customised gear so important for competitive ploughing?
3:08–3:31
Speakers
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