A Race for the Golden Pliers

Fencing competitions have a sturdy history in New Zealand’s rural
communities, and Fieldays offers an opportunity for the country’s top fencers
to face off at the largest agricultural event in the Southern Hemisphere.

New Zealand Fencing Competition’s Golden
Pliers Singles Championship is a six-and-a-half-hour competition where fencers must build a two diagonal stays
fence that is 50m with 9 x 2.5mm high tensile wire. Post and staple guns are
not permitted during this competition. Every detail is watched closely by a
team of judges.

“Once the first man in the finals finishes his fence, every other competitor starts losing half a point a minute until the individual finishes,” explains Laurie Riesterer, an eight-time finalist of fencing competitions over the years, coming second in one of his singles competitions.

The goal is to make a good quality fence in the shortest amount of time.

Laurie says that “time is a factor” when it comes to building the fences “but the quality will always win”.