Locals and visitors from near and far have battle it out for the title of Australia’s best billy boiler during the 2024 AgQuip Billy Boiling championships at the Railway Hotel.
Hundreds gathered outside The Railway Hotel last week to watch competitors vie for prize money and prestige in the 43rd year of the Roy Jaeger and Tony Bowles Memorial Billy Boiling Championship of Australia.
Each competitor is given a box of matches, a tomahawk, a block of pine, and a billy with 600ml of water in it and piece of cardboard to fan the flames to try an bet the fastest time.
They are timed and the winner of each heat is the one who can bring their billy to a rolling boil the fastest to progress to the final. There is also a prize for the fastest time of the night. If they spill water or knock their billy over, they’re out of the running.
The women’s event was one to remember with Jessica Knight going into the final as the favourite after a blistering time in her heat. Jessica teamed up with billy boiling champion Daniel Wicks to have a commanding lead in the final to win in a time of 6:13 minutes from Kate Groves and Kathy Riley in third.
Women’s winners, Jessica Knight (first), Georgie Carrigan (second, receiving on behalf of Kate Grove) and Kath Ryley (third), with Josh Launders from the Railway Hotel.
The men would be one for the record books however with the heat winner all recording under the 6:30 in their heats. The two favorites in Mark Ross and Daniel Wicks both recording times of 5:46 minutes and 5:56 respectively which was well off the mark of the record set by Gunnedah’s Doug Pegg record in 1995 at 5:13 minutes.
The men’s final was set to go down to the wire. The first minute saw pine flying from axes to make small kindling. Daniel Wicks had a ragging fire within minutes and was fanning massive flames. In the distances saw Mark Ross, Ken Folley, Graham Jones, Sam Snape and Steve Wicks just getting their fires started.
Daniel Wicks had a commanding lead to set a new Australian and world record with a time of 4:41 minutes to beat Doug Pegg’s record by 32 seconds. To this day, the record still held by Doug Pegg who, in 1995, boiled a billy in five minutes and 13 seconds. In second place was Ken Folley 6:30 and Sam Snape in 6:42 minutes.
History:
Steve Wicks said it was “great to be part of an iconic tradition” which started from a bet in 1979 over “who could boil a billy the quickest”.
Kenny Lloyd had been at a pony club meeting in Quipolly where the kids had been learning billy boiling on a Saturday afternoon.
When he visited his local watering hole – the Railway – he raised the idea of a competition with fellow regulars including Roy Jaeger, Snow Weston, Lenny Cook, Kenny Lloyd, ‘Barramundi’ Bob Margach and Max Kotzur and Tony Bowles.
After a bit of a practice on Sunday lunch time and a few beers, they then had to experiment on the quantity of liquid, they came up with two middy glasses or about 600mm of water to be precise. They held a competition on the Sunday, and Mr Kotzur beat Mr Weston for first place in 1979.
Mr Weston was victorious in the next two years but was knocked from his pedestal in 1983 by “dark horse” Graham Waters, from Narrabri, who boiled his billy in five minutes and 30 seconds.
Mr Roy Jaeger and Tony Bowles kept the tradition going and the name of the competition still bears their names to this day.
Snow Weston after his win in 1981.
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