For immediate release, Tuesday 19 May 2026
IT’S THE FINESSE OF A FEMALE THROW THAT CREATES THE LONGEST SKIM IN THE COUNTRY
Last weekend’s inaugural Aotearoa Stone Skimming Championship at Lake Hāwea Station, presented by NOVUS Glass and in support of Melanoma New Zealand, saw Abbey MacDonald of Queenstown step up in pool play with three stunning skims – the largest being a massive 72 metres – to take the title for the furthest distance skimmed on the day. With sartorial elegance, she out-skimmed over 120 male fellow competitors.
Abbey progressed to the final, where her fine form continued, and she will now be heading to Scotland this September to represent New Zealand as a ‘Black Rock’ at the World Stone Skimming Championships. Her consistent, accurate skimming across the day surely has her as a favourite for the globally recognised event held in September.
The finals also presented an unexpected male winner. Guest competitor, Jay Reeve, who was also a commentator on the day and forms part of the country’s biggest drive-time radio show, The Rock Drive, stepped up and skimmed an astonishing 51 metres to take the lead. In a nail-biting finish, wildcard Cam stepped onto the pressure cooker that was the launch pad. Incredibly, his final skim actually went a few metres further than Jay’s, but on the last skip, his stone veered out of bounds and was confirmed a “No Skim”.
Abbey and Jay will be receiving flights to Scotland to represent our country.
The results of the finals were:
Open Female Category
- 1st Place: Abbey McDonald – 42m
- 2nd Place: Marg Spite – 35m
- 3rd Place: Emily Inglis – 30m
Open Male Category
- 1st Place: Jay Reeve – 51m
- 2nd Place: Olie Fey – 48m
- 3rd Place: James Acfie – 46m
Stone skimming as a sport is gaining traction worldwide. The key criteria is around distance and staying in the lane – it must skim at least twice, then its final distance is measured. The inaugural Aotearoa Stone Skimming Championship at Lake Hāwea Station this weekend saw 150 competitors and another 300 spectators. Proceeds from the event went to Melanoma New Zealand. NOVUS Glass was the gold sponsor with some 50 businesses nationwide all chipping in for this important cause.
Event Organiser, Richie Laming, said he was “blown away by the support for the event, and it was so gratifying to see many of the Lake Hāwea Community enjoy the day”. There were hot tubs, food trucks, the Melanoma New Zealand Spot Check Van, a VIP tent with luxury sheepskin bean bags and well-known media and sporting announcers who MC’d.
On the day, the Melanoma New Zealand Nurse saw a total of 89 people for free skin cancer spot checks and gave each of them further information about melanoma prevention and how to check their skin going forward. From those checks, the Nurse found 13 suspicious lesions, including two suspected melanomas.
A selection of photographs from the event can be found here. All photographs must be credited to the photographer, Deanna Gerlach.
Media enquiries should be sent to:
- Kate Fullan kate.fullan@melanoma.org.nz
- Richie Laming richie@lakehaweastation.com
Melanoma New Zealand is the only charity in New Zealand solely dedicated to preventing avoidable deaths and suffering caused by melanoma. More than 8,000 people are diagnosed with melanoma every year, and there are around 300 deaths. The Melanoma New Zealand team champions melanoma prevention, detection, and patient care for all.
melanoma.org.nz
Lake Hāwea Station (LHS) is a Merino Sheep and pure Angus cattle farm on the shores of Lake Hāwea, creating superfine Merino wool for fashion brands around the world. LHS was the first certified carbon-zero farm in Australasia, the first and only B Corp certified sheep farm in the world and a leader in regenerative farming/animal welfare practices. LHS also has on-farm luxury accommodation, which was placed on the Condé Nast Gold list. LHS recently hosted the Breast Cancer Cure ‘Hike for a Cure’ and ‘Dine for a Cure’ events for the second consecutive year, raising funds for breast cancer research.
lakehaweastation.com