For the second year running, Liam Kernaghan of Dunedin, New Zealand was the overall winner at the annual New Year’s Day solo piping competition at Waipu in the country’s North Island. The town’s annual highland games was cancelled but the A Grade solo piping competition went ahead.
Results:
Ceòl Mòr – 1. Greg Wilson, Tai Tapu; 2. Campbell Wilson, Christchurch; 3. Liam Kernaghan.
MSR – 1. Liam Kernaghan; 2. Willie Rowe, Palmerston North; 3. Greg Wilson.
March – 1. Greg Wilson; 2. Liam Kernaghan; 3. Willie Rowe.
Judges: Stuart Finlayson and Brian Switalla.
Strathspey & Reel – 1. Liam Kernaghan; 2. Greg Wilson; 3. Campbell Wilson.
Hornpipe & Jig – 1. Liam Kernaghan; 2. Willie Rowe; 3. Greg Wilson.
Helen MacGregor Memorial Medley – 1. Willie Rowe; 2. Liam Kernaghan; 3. Campbell Wilson; 4. Chubb Chia.
Stuart Finlayson and Brian Switalla judged the Ceòl Mòr, March and the Strathspey and Reel. Bain McGregor judged the MSR and Iain Robertson judged the Hornpipe and Jig.
Waipu was the centre of a significant Scottish Presbyterian settlement in the 1850s when five ships carrying over 800 settlers arrived there.
