Missabotti family to showcase whipcracking skills at Back to Bowra

A CATTLE farming family led by Matt and Amy Martin of Missabotti will demonstrate their whipcracking skills at the Back to Bowra Festival this month.

The olden times-themed festival planned for Saturday, 15 November promises a lineup of timeless skills and entertainment such as whipcracking, billy cart riding and tug of war competitions.

Matt, a veteran of the art for more than 35 years, will host the whipcracking tournament on the day.

He plans to demonstrate some of the skills which will be rewarded in the competition.

Matt’s company MJM Earthmoving is a major sponsor of the festival and he will donate several whips as prizes to winners of the various categories.

NOTA visited his Missabotti property where an entire family of whipcracking champions is being raised.

Layne and Skyla Martin demonstrated their skills producing multiple resounding “cracks” in the space of just a few seconds.

“Contestants will be judged on how many cracks they can produce in a minute,” explained Matt, “but there will also be a freestyle section of the competition.

“And we are going to have several whips of different lengths available for people to have a go,” he added.

“We are currently thinking there will be three categories for the children and then one for those 18 years and over,” Amy Martin said.

Matt told NOTA how he honed his whipcracking skills over his ten years as a ringer on cattle properties in the Northern Territory and Gulf regions of Australia.

“I still use it (the skill) for mustering my cattle,” he said, demonstrating several different methods of producing the loud traditional cracks.

The “crack” of the whip is the noise produced when the tip moves faster than the speed of sound, breaking the sound barrier and causing a sonic boom.

Those interested in entering the tournament can do so by registering online at the Back to Bowra website.

By Ned COWIE