Can it be done?

Vic Pearsey of Bluff is seeking to make it ten in a row when she takes part in the Ladies Oyster Opening contest at the 2021 Bluff Oyster & Food Festival on Saturday (22 May). However, it has been far from smooth sailing as the attempt to make it ten in a row has taken twelve years.

Pearsey took her first title back in 2010 and repeated the feat in 2011, 2012 and 2013. She was at the Festival venue the following year when high winds intervened and the event was shut down on safety grounds. The Festival moved to a permanent site in 2015 with Pearsey taking the title for the next five years in a row only for Covid-19 to bring about a cancellation in 2020. With ten titles in a row tantalisingly close it meant Pearsey had to wait twelve more months to try and achieve the milestone.

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Her best time in an event where openers must open 50 oysters is 2 minutes 43 seconds, set in 2017. The following year was a close-run thing with Pearsey having to change her style as the oysters proved difficult. She defeated Peggy Bishop on that occasion by 10 seconds with a time of 3 minutes 28 seconds while the following year she beat her niece Alecia Brown, a first-year opener at that time, with a time of 3 minutes 12 seconds with Brown only 12 seconds in arrears. “I’m not sure if Alecia is entering this year, she has a fulltime job and only opens casually these days. She had real potential,” says Vic.

Whether or not Pearsey achieves the milestone on Saturday she may not be back. “If I did win, I would probably not be back, not immediately anyway. When I started winning the aim became ten and if I do it then it’s time. If I can’t do it, I probably wouldn’t come back for another go, getting ten after missing out on one wouldn’t be the same. “One thing that would bring me back, win or lose, would be if the numbers of women started dwindling,” says Pearsey, who started competing to get more women into the competitions.

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The first year Vic started opening oysters at work she was on and off the bench so didn’t enter the competition. She then entered two times before grabbing that first win and the rest is history.  

“One of the best things about the way the competition has evolved,” says Pearsey, “is the fact that when I first started there were teams from Barnes, Ngai Tahu and Direct Fish & Oysters and there was no love or friendship. It has now become a really awesome day where we all come together and have a really good time. At the end of the day, it is not about winning or losing but about showcasing our industry.” 

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Despite the camaraderie, there is an ominous warning however. “This year I am coming after the men,” she says as the competition prepares for a first ever final between the Men’s and Ladies title winners.

The Bluff Oyster & Food Festival takes place in Bluff on Saturday 22 May from 10.30am. Tickets have been sold out since the beginning of February.