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Mark and Sonia Dillon with their tractor.
The New Zealand ploughing team to the world championship in Croatia next month will be banking on borrowed equipment as they seek glory.
This follows a shipping mix-up that saw the team's bespoke tractors and ploughs end up in Wellington two weeks ago, instead of landing in Europe.
Mark Dillon, Southland, and Malcolm Taylor, Waikato, have made the difficult decision to leave the equipment at home and rely on borrowed equipment.
In the last issue of Rural News we reported on the frustrations of the NZ Ploughing team in trying to ship their bespoke tractors and ploughs to the World Ploughing event to be held in Osijek, Croatia in early September.
Dillon and Taylor are scheduled to represent NZ in the conventional and reversible classes respectively and, being old hands at the game, knew that getting their equipment to Croatia early would allow time for cleaning, inspection and local practice, before heading into the actual event.
Their forward planning, preparation and loading in early May meant an original arrival date of their container in Europe of July 18. Delayed departure had pushed this arrival date to July 24.
On 16 June, inquiries to shipping specialists Oceanbridge advised that the container was still in Wellington, who surprisingly stated that expected delivery was still around July 25.
On July 5, Dillon's wife Sonia used an app to track progress, to find that the boat was off the coast of Tasmania, then sought an updated ETA, to be told that the boat was actually en route back to Wellington, with a revised arrival in Europe of around August 24 - just 12 days before the event commenced.
Earlier in July, there was a heated discussion with Oceanbridge, who suggested reloading the container onto an alternative boat that should be able to get to Western Europe earlier, but added the complication of getting the container and its contents to Croatia by road.
Unfortunately, further discussions suggested that the revised solution would mean an expected arrival of 28th August, with any weather-related or political delays meaning the risk of the date pushing out further.
This has resulted in the duo making the difficult decision to leave the equipment at home and rely on borrowed equipment.
Sonia Dillon says there were just too many variables to ensure that the container would arrive on time.
"The boys decided to head up to Croatia and take up the offer of loan tractors and ploughs from friends and acquaintances from the World Ploughing community.
"It won't be the same as using their own gear, but I'm sure they will give it their best try. There was never any suggesting of not going, as we have already committed a lot of money to travel and accommodation costs, so we'll enjoy the event for what it is."
Meanwhile, Oceanbridge has suggested that they are hopeful of getting a refund from the global shipping company MSC.
Sonia Dillon remains sceptical about the suggestion, noting at this stage there has been no apology or explanation about how the massive faux pas occurred.
Rural News suggests that Oceanbridge and MSC should get their heads together and commit to getting the duo's container to the 2027 World Ploughing Event to be held in Kenya - on time and at no cost!
Ploughing champions Mark Dillon and Malcolm Taylor earned the right to represent the country at the World Ploughing Championships in Osijek, Croatia, on 5 and 6 September, after winning their titles at the New Zealand Ploughing Championships in Middlemarch in 2025.
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The New Zealand ploughing team to the world championship in Croatia next month will be banking on borrowed equipment as they seek glory.
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