Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T10:40:00.000-05:00

Watch some massive pumpkins getting dropped is a great way to ring in 2012.

Pumpkins with Personality

2011-11-11T17:00:00.000-05:00

These are some extremely impressive pumpkin carvings by Ray Villafane. Checkout the rest of his work here at VillafaneStudios.com. Is this proof that every pumpkin really does have a personality?

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DailyArtFixx.com:
Ray Villafane: Pumpkin Carving --

Using only common clay carving tools to sculpt his pumpkins, Villafane explains his artistic method: “Not all pumpkins will look good and the most important thing about a pumpkin is its weight. You need to pick the meatiest pumpkin….I also like a pumpkin with character. One with nobly ridges is good, so that I can utilize that in the carving procedure, like with sculpting noses.

Villafane’s hobby of pumpkin sculpting was brought to a new level in 2007 when he was contacted by High Noon Entertainment and asked to participate in the Food Network’s Challenge Show, Outrageous Pumpkins. He competed as one of four professional pumpkin sculptors, impressed the judges enough to sweep all three rounds and was awarded the Grand Prize. Outrageous Pumpkins logged the highest ratings of any other Challenge episode, and a second invitation was extended to Ray in 2009. They wanted him to come back and defend his title in their Outrageous Pumpkins Challenge II. Ray defended his 2008 title and took home the 2010 Grand Prize from the Food Network’s Pumpkin Challenge II. The exposure of Ray’s style, talent and creativity amassed an all-new appreciation for pumpkin “carving”, and his artistic take on the traditional jack-o-lantern has granted him invitations from across the globe for VIP Galleries (Very Impressive Pumpkins). From the President’s Quarters in the White House to Bermuda’s Sousa’s Gardens, Ray’s pumpkins have gathered a cult-like following.

via Barry Ritholtz

Punkin Chunkin Wrap Party

2011-11-07T14:22:00.009-05:00

Here is a round-up of some more stories and images from the World Championship Punkin Chunkin in Bridgeville, Delaware.

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DelawareOnline.com
Punkin Chunkin: Unofficials results show top launch short of record --

As many as 50,000 people may have attended this year's 26th annual World Championship Punkin Chunkin competition that ended Sunday at Wheatley Farm near Bridgeville after three days of competition, officials said.

Unofficial results reported by the World Championship Punkin Chunkin Association showed the top distance of 3,699.27 feet, scored by "Big 10 Inch" in the adult air category...

The event was hosted by Mythbusters and will be aired on the Discovery Channel in a three-hour program Nov. 24th [Thanksgiving]...

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Punkin Chunkin draws large crowd

DelmarvaNow.com:
'This place is a hoot' -- Punkin Chunkin draws huge crowd for day full of fun --

Although Jean Nixon had heard of the World Punkin Chunkin Championships and had seen excerpts of it on television, she didn't really know what to expect from the event.

The Sterling, Va., resident had a chance to experience it in all of its splendor as she was invited to the three-day event by her friends, with whom she was staying in town.

"I'm fascinated, it's amazing," she said. "The crowd is so interesting and the machines, I just can't stop looking at the fancy machines and all the work gone into throwing pumpkins."...

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DelmarvaNow.com:
High-flyin' fun at Punkin Chunkin -- Revelers rejoice on final day of Punkin Chunkin

Blue skies and low winds offered favorable conditions for the final day of the 26th annual World Punkin Chunkin Championships.

Towering air cannons ejected the squash with violent blasts of air, sometimes nearly vaporizing them in an explosion chunkers affectionately call "pumpkin pie." With the farthest-flung landing gourds more than 4,000 feet away from the launch point, the event has come a long way from its beginning in the mid-'80s, when 200 feet was a respectable goal.

Dawn Thompson's husband, Bill, basically started the event with a group of friends in their backyard...

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Missed this earlier note from WCPC competitor -
Jeff DelPapa / Tool wielding ape, Card carrying NERD:
Day 1 Summary --

Pumpkins this year are of very poor quality. They aren't as dense as past years, and even normally tough varieties are not up to the stresses of launching. Almost every Trebuchet pied their shot today, including the new version of Yankee Siege, and last years Tired Iron. The very elegant appearing Merlin managed to break its throwing arm (a regular occurrence for them, they bring spares), and Pumpkin Hammer (last years winner) had a jam involving their trigger, and had to go thru a lot of gymnastics in order to get their shot off...

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Punkin Chunkin Pageant:
Congratulations to everyone that participated in the Punkin Chunkin Pageant --

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Flickr photostream:

Punkin Chunkin Photos

2011-11-06T23:23:00.021-05:00

Here are some photos from the just completed 2011 World Championship Punkin Chunkin in Delaware. It looks like some folks get a little crazy about their pumpkins.

There was a mad punkin chunker named Wayne,
Who doused his pumpkins with butane,
He ignited them with glee,
All the spectators did flee,
Sadly the poor lunatic was consumed by flame.

photos via Punkin Chunkin Facebook

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Kari Byron, Grant Imahara and Tory Belleci from Mythbusters and the Governor of Delaware Jack Markell at the opening ceremonies of the 26th annual Punkin Chunkin Event.

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The Punkin Chunkin safety guy was BUSY all day! He made sure that nobody was behind each of the machines as they launched. The pumpkins could have gone backwards, and his job to was ensure you weren't in the line of possible backfire. Thanks safety guy!!!

photos via Flickr

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No, this is not an air cannon. It is a Science Channel boom camera.

Jeff DelPapa / Tool wielding ape, Card carrying NERD:

The folks from Science channel were collecting a bunch of B roll, watching as the various teams assembled their machines. They had a very long (75 feet perhaps) counter-weighted camera boom, that they use to get overhead views of the machines and firing line. As a result, they are collecting a lot of ribbing from the catapult teams. the contraption looks a whole lot like the throwing arms on various machines, and merely needs a bit more counterweight, and a sling to qualify for the Trebuchet class. (they were also "warned" to keep an eye on it at night, lest they find it scrounged by some team to make a last minute extension for, or emergency repair to their throwing arm.)

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Who knew that the Punkin Chunkin field was an annex of Area 51.

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This is where it begins: Mini Trebuchet. PunkinChunkin 2012 anyone??

Those aren't cranes in the background. They're AIR CANNONS.

photos via Grant Imahara / Twitter

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Tory Belleci / Twitter:

This place is insane. It's like The Guns of Navarone out here.

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This is what science looks like at #PunkinChunkin

photos via Kari Byron / Twitter

Where else do you get to meet a guy like Fat Jimmy? #PunkinChunkin

World Championship Punkin Chunkin Has Started

2011-11-04T11:53:00.014-04:00

The World Championship Punkin Chuckin has started today in Bridgeville, Delaware. Here is a round-up of some of the news coming out of the event, which runs until Sunday, Nov. 6th.

PunkinChunkin.com:
PUNKIN CHUNKIN 2011 to Be Hosted by MYTHBUSTERS Kari Byron, Grant Imahara and Tory Belleci --

MYTHBUSTERS: Kari Byron, Grant Imahara and Tory Belleci

-- Pumpkins Take To The Skies in the 2011 Discovery Channel / SCIENCE Simulcast of PUNKIN CHUNKIN Thanksgiving Night, November 24, at 8:00PM (ET/PT)--

Pumpkins become projectiles once again with the return of PUNKIN CHUNKIN, the annual special that's becoming as much as part of Thanksgiving tradition as turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce. The thrilling competition where "man meets machine meets mayhem" prepares for launch on Thanksgiving night, Thursday, November 24 at 8:00 PM (ET/PT) as a simulcast on Discovery Channel and SCIENCE.

For those unfamiliar, PUNKIN CHUNKIN is an annual extravaganza where teams (and more than 30 thousand fans) gather in a Delaware cornfield to see whose homemade contraption can propel a pumpkin the farthest. This year's event takes viewers behind the firing line, getting up close and personal with the explosive contraptions and personalities that make PUNKIN CHUNKIN define "gourd glory." No strangers to explosions of all sorts, MYTHBUSTERS' Kari Byron, Grant Imahara, and Tory Belleci join as hosts of PUNKIN CHUNKIN, going inside the madness to uncover the singular subcultures of these passionate participants. Now in its 26th year of competition, PUNKIN CHUNKIN has become a pop culture phenomenon, inspiring countless backyard warriors looking to recreate the wacky rituals that make up this autumnal event.

"It's the enthusiasm and fearless imaginations of these crazy geniuses that make 'The Chunk' an American tradition and a Thanksgiving mainstay," said Debbie Myers, General Manager and Executive Vice President for SCIENCE. "The competition embodies the spirit of SCIENCE like no other, and we're proud to showcase PUNKIN CHUNKIN as our premiere annual SCI SPORTS event."...

related:
Discovery.com:
Kari, Grant and Tory Get Chunked

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DoverPost.com:
Punkin Chunkin spokesman Frank Shade gabs about gourds --

Q What do you attribute its recent popularity?
A I think the biggest thing that happened was about 12 or 13 years ago the event was really, really declining in attendance. A couple of us got together and said, “What can we do to make it better?” We started getting the word out that there’s things to do at the Chunk. We took a machine to the David Letterman show, we took a machine into New York City and threw a pumpkin on the side of the Ed Sullivan Theater. Letterman never stepped foot outside and saw us, but people outside of Sussex County saw it. Then some boys in Morton, Ill., got to know about it and that’s the pumpkin capital of the world, where they can all the pumpkin for Libby’s. Some of the guys in a mechanical shop built one of the first major air cannons and brought it here to compete and promptly kicked our butts. They were having an event out there and in the pumpkin capital it was only drawing 100 people or so. We took five of our machines out there and turned their event into a two-day event and brought thousands. Then they came back and brought busloads.
Then ESPN said they heard about some lunatics out there in Delaware and brought out a news crew. The more people heard about it, it just grew exponentially. We saw crowds going from 3,000 to 4,000 people to last year we had over 100,000 people at the event. And we’re anticipating a 15 to 20 percent increase this year...

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DelmarvaNow.com:
A lifetime of Chunkin history -- Since he was 9, Jake Burton has honed his pumpkin-launching skills

When Jake Burton began participating in the World Championship Punkin Chunkin events as a teenager, he was seen as a Punkin Chunkin prodigy.

As a 9-year-old, the Milton resident and current record holder for the youth and adult air cannon categories was already adept at welding and other mechanical skills.

Now a grizzled veteran at age 24, Burton is armed with his knowledge of engineering as he and his team, Young Glory III, participate in their 10th Punkin Chunkin. They've practiced since late summer...

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Beth Stackpole / Design News:
Catapult Competition Chunks Old Punkins --

A contingent of engineers and hobbyists has big plans for all those extra pumpkins that didn't find a home on Halloween. On the first weekend in November, dozens of teams are convening in Bridgeville, Del., for the annual World Championship Punkin' Chunkin', an event that puts medieval machines like catapults and trebuchets to the test to see how far that can huck a pumpkin.

A team of engineers at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, led by David Mollenhauer, senior materials engineer at the base, takes the sport pretty seriously. Called Team ETHOS, the crew has been at its quest for six years now, having nabbed first prize in the 2009 Adult Torsion Catapult category of the competition with its Phoenix catapult, which that year pulled off a pumpkin hurl of 2,088 feet...

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But, there was also some bad news coming out of the Punkin Chunkin.

Jeremy Tucker / WBOC.com:
Theft of Equipment at Punkin Chunkin --

BRIDGEVILLE, Del.- Organizers of Punkin Chunkin said they nearly had to cancel the event after tens of thousands of dollars worth of equipment was stolen from the Bridgeville farm where the event is held.

Police said someone stole more than $33,000 worth of fence posts and electronic equipment from the farm.

Organizer Frank Shade said the event was placed in jeopardy.

"Without the boundaries we couldn't have put the event on. Without the electric we could not have had entertainment on the stage, ice machines, the PA system and so on. This is all the necessary equipment just to produce the event," Shade said.

National organizations and a local electric company have pitched in. They found replacement posts for the 12 miles of fencing at Punkin Chunkin...

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The Science Channel is also running a triva contest for Punkin Chunkin on Twitter. We are following them on Twitter so we have shot at the contest. Check out the rules and follow @ScienceChannel with hash tag #PunkinChuckin on Twitter:

@SCIENCECHANNEL #PunkinChunkin POP QUIZ CONTEST

CONTEST ENTRY DETAILS: To enter the contest, visit http://twitter.com/ScienceChannel (the "Website"). At one (1) random time each weekday (Tuesday-Saturday, November 1-5) during the Contest Period, we will post a "Punkin Chunkin" trivia question. The first four (4) eligible people to reply to the @ScienceChannel Twitter account with the hash tag #PunkinChunkin and the correct answer will win a Grand Prize. In order to reply, the entrant must be a follower of the Science Channel Twitter Page and include the "@Science Channel" and "#PunkinChunkin" address in their response.

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New Looks for Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival blog

2011-11-04T11:12:00.003-04:00

The nice folks at Blogger, which is part of Google, send out an email this morning telling us that we now had a bunch of new ways for people to look at our VT Pumpkin Chuckin' blog:

Hello Bloggers!

Introducing Dynamic Views: a one-of-a-kind browsing experience that will inspire readers to explore your blog in new ways and make it easier and more interactive to discover your posts.

Choose from one of seven elegant, interactive new layouts to share your blog with the world. With features like infinite scrolling, images that load as readers browse, lightbox style posts for easy viewing, and keyboard shortcuts for quickly flipping through posts, your readers will enjoy your blog in brand new ways.

Some of these views are pretty neat, the only problem appears to be that we lose the display of the information on our right sidebar if we make one of these other "views" our default look. So we will probably stay with the so called "classic" look for now. But, please check out the new features.

Snapshot View

Other views:

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Wow, can you believe there are only 11 months until the next Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival. The big World Championship Punkin Chunkin in Delaware is starting today. We will be following their great event and hope to post some photos and info.

Team Dante's Inferno

2011-10-08T15:02:00.012-04:00

Here are few photos of the winning heavyweight trebuchet team, Dante's Inferno from Massachusetts. It is great that a team with their sportsmanship and competitive energy won the heavyweight competition. Plus, their monogrammed hoodies had a very nice design and added to the spirit of the festival. We hope they come back next year to defend their title.

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The bottomline is they looked good and hurled great!

Thank You Everyone for a Great 2011 VT Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival / Results

2011-10-05T22:23:00.051-04:00

The last pumpkins have been hurled and the 3rd Annual Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival is in the books.

We apologize for the delay in getting this posted. We would like to thank the following people for helping us put on a tremendous 3rd Annual Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival under difficult, wet conditions this year:

Mark Willis (did a great job as MC)
Mike Dunn (music and PA system)
John Smyth (music)
Mike Gladu (record keeping, he didn't even get a chance to eat he was so busy the whole festival)
Len Ambro (surveyor)
Mark and Laurie Boyden for the use of their farm and help organizing.
Lamoille Family Center for running the kids activities
Russell Baum for helping with running the festival
Bruce Wallace for helping with running the festival
Cambridge Rotary club for the food and parking, and helping get the word out

We would also like to thank all of our sponsors for the great T-shirts and their support of the festival, the Cambridge Area Rotary, and the Lamoille Family Center. Here is a list of our VTPC sponsors:

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First, we would like to give special recognition to team Dante's Inferno. They were the first team to show up from Massachusetts. They were totally within the rules and they won the heavyweight competition on their first try! Plus, they brought a counter-weight full of energizing team spirit. Congratulations Dante's Inferno, great job.

Also, thank you Weapons Of Medieval Destruction 2.0 for having a truly amazing machine and throwing over 1.7 football fields. You were easily the show stopper, even though your machine was too heavy for the formal competition.

The Pumpkins Bane team also had an amazing machine, if not for Weapons of Medieval Destruction, you would have stolen the show, and you were only somewhat over the weight limit.

Again, thanks JJ Spanier, a truly powerful demonstration of sky bowling.

Thank you to all our competitors. We hope to see you all next year.

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Here are the official results of the 2011 Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival trebuchet hurling contest:

All distances are in feet. Then for the lower divisions the actual distance of the throw is scaled up to the distance the trebuchet would have thrown if it were 10 feet tall (over 3 rounds). Lightweights are scaled up by 2.9 and middleweights are scaled up by 1.71.

Overall Winner / Best Design: SUNY Plattsburgh 223.33 feet (scaled)

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Lightweight Division: ages 10 and under
Max. weight of trebuchet = 20 lbs.
max. height = 41"
Projectile weight: at least 3 ounces

First place: Super Stunners (Brian Jadus, Alex Jadus, Jeff Marvin and Kyle Marvin) Trebuchet: Vegetable Splatter

Actual distance: Round 1: 36.6 feet, Round 2: 43.5 feet, Round 3: 44.0 feet
Scaled distance: Rd 1: 106.87' , Rd 2: 127.02' , Rd 3: 128.5'

Second place: Terminator (Cambridge Cub Scouts)

Actual: 2.4', 33.7', 35.4'
Scaled: 70.08', 98.4', 103.37'

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Middleweight Junior Division: Ages 17 and under
Max. weight = 100 lbs.
max. height = 70"
Projectile weight at least 1 lb.

First place: Pumpkin Chuckin Airlines (Daniel and Michael Wallace)

Actual: 108.2', 102', 75.9'
Scaled: 185.02', 174.42', 129.79'

Second place: Team Moving Forward (Annie Levine, Grady Ward)

Actual: 2.1', 0, 3.3'
Scaled: 3.59', 0, 5.64'

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Middleweight Open Division: open to all ages
Max. weight = 100 lbs.
max height = 70"
Projectile weight = 1 lb.

1st place: SUNY Plattsburgh (Taylor Trombley, Jaime Smith, Randy Bissik, Carl Comstock, Tobey Bettbauger)

Actual: 95.5', 92.2', 130.6'
Scaled: 163.31', 157.66', 223.33'

Second place: Dead Weight (Brad Gustafson, Maever Gustafson, Evelyn Gustafson, Matt Gustafson, Christy Gustafson)

Actual: 52.6', 63.6', 84.3'
Scaled: 89.95', 108.76', 144.15'

Third place: Team Wagner (Sam Wagner, Amanda Wagner)

Actual: 31.6', 41.4', 57.1'
Scaled: 54.04', 70.79' , 97.64'

Fourth place: Looking for Satisfying Splat (Olivia Doty, John Doty, Jim Cobb, Charlie Cobb, Max Cobb, Liam Nelson, Megan Nelson, Rachel Bombardier)

Actual: 52.5', 47.3', 50'
Scaled: 87.38', 80.88', 85.5'

Fifth place: Team Jordan (Don Jordan, Chris Jordan, Johnnie Jordan)

Actual: 13.8', 5.9', 37.9'
Scaled: 23.6', 10.09', 64.81'

Sixth place: Tres Bucket (Cambridge Scouts)

Actual: 5.7', 30.4', 27.7'
Scaled: 9.75', 51.98', 47.37'

Seventh place: Cambridge Troop 39 (Zach Weston, Dakota Brousseau, Ryan Beauregard, Eric Engel)

Actual: 0, 6.2', 8.7'
Scaled: 0, 10.6', 14.88'

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Heavyweight Division: open to all ages
Max weight = 500 lbs.
max height = 120"
projectile weight = 5 lbs.

First place: Dante's Inferno (Tim Brown, Ryan Brown, Kim Brown, Amanda Brown, Michelle Brown, Dan Brown)

Actual distances: Rd 1: 116.6' , Rd 2: 117.4' , Rd 3: 113.8'

Second place: Webelos Battery 2 (Pack 692)

Actual: 71.2', 85.8', 83.8'

Third place: Pumpkin's Bane (Chris McGrody, Doug North)

Overweight (not sure exactly what weight)

Distances: 281.1', 266.4', 256.8'

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Best Distance: Weapons of Medieval Destruction 2.0 (Nick Helms, Bruce Penfield)

Throw for show: overweight and over height (not sure exactly what weight)

Distances: Rd 1: 0, Rd 2: 453.2', Rd 3: 519' (best recorded distance of the day)

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We hope to have some video of the festival to post at a later date, and some news on the record attempt.

If you have any questions about the competition please contact the event organizer, Dave Jordan.

We hope to see you all back next year at the 4th Annual Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival, on Sunday, October 7th, 2012, at the Boyden Family Farm. Happy hurling everyone!

Alert: 3 Days Until Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival

2011-09-29T11:00:00.011-04:00

Time is getting short. There are only three days until the 3rd Annual Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival gets underway at the Boyden Family Farm.

The gates open at 11:00 am for spectators and the first round of competitive hurling begins at 1:00 pm. The music will start around noon, and there will be a kickoff introduction at 12:45 pm.

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There once was a gent named Buford,
Who wanted to hurl some gourds.
He went to the farm,
Took his treb' with one arm,
And he did earn the top reward.

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At the Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival you will see pumpkins getting smashed, world records being established, and fun being had.

Everyone loves trebuchets, even the hillbillies and rednecks.

Rednecks setting up their trebuchet at Hillbilly Armageddon

National Geographic Channel:
Photo Gallery: Hillbilly Armageddon -- [You have to love their beer keg counter-weight]

National Geographic Channel:
Rocket City Rednecks -- New Series Premiered Wednesday, September 28 at 9P et/pt

We are taking the term ‘redneck’ back! There was a time when it referred to hardworking, self-sufficient farmers whose necks would sunburn while working in the fields. Those farmers had to be smart and had to solve problems with just what they had on hand. That is what a redneck is! Now we are bringing it back in fashion, so that being called ‘redneck’ ain't an insult! It's a compliment. Nothing says you can’t have a Ph.D. and also be a redneck!"
— Travis Taylor

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A redneck review by Zap2it:
Big blowups in 'Rocket City' --

They may like a cold one, talk like Larry the Cable Guy and have a lot of buck trophies up on the wall, but the "Rocket City Rednecks" are steely-eyed missile men.

Airing Wednesdays on National Geographic Channel, the series profiles five self-proclaimed "rednecks" who live in the Huntsville, Ala., area, home to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center...

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Additionally, just in case you did not know it already, the trebuchet is also a beautiful demonstration of mathematics in motion.

The Algorithmic Beauty of the Trebuchet

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Trebuchet Mechanics: The trebuchet, a medieval catapult driven by a falling, hinged counterweight, has been simulated to progressively more accurate approximations by successively more realistic physical models. The first of these, a "black box" model in which the mechanism for the transfer of potential energy to the counter-weight to the kinetic energy of the released projectile is left unspecified, led to a definition of a "Range Efficiency," Reff, equal to the measured range of the projectile divided by the range of the black box model, given by twice the ratio of the CW to projectile masses times the distance that the CW falls. This range efficiency can be used to compare actual trebuchets to simulated one's design "back of the envelope" trebuchets, and is useful in understanding the results of more sophisticated simulations....

One Week 'til 3rd Annual Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival

2011-09-24T16:27:00.019-04:00

The final countdown has begun. There is now only one week and some odd hours until the 3rd Annual Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival gets underway on Sunday, October 2nd, 2011, at the Boyden Family Farm in Cambridge, VT.

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Safety Reminder: Trebuchets are weapons

First, we want to remind all our competitors that safety is very important to us at the Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival. If you watch the video in our previous post you will see that bad things do happen to trebuchets. Trebuchets are tricky beasts, and they can and will malfunction. Therefore, we want to remind all our competitors to help us keep you, your team, and the spectators all safe. Even the smaller trebuchets in our competition generate serious forces that can injure someone if they are in the wrong place.

Loading, cocking, and firing a trebuchet are all dangerous. Because trebs use heavy counterweights the loading and cocking is perhaps even more risky than the actual launching. So please ensure that you and your team are taking the appropriate precautions when loading your machine.

The rules allow winches or other electrical motors to cock a trebuchet. This is for safety reasons. The winch or motor will not count towards the total weight. If these devices are electrical they must be battery operated since there will be no access to AC power in the field.

Here is some excellent information from the SiegeEngine.com website regarding trebuchets and their safety:

Your counterweight needs training. They know it's dangerous, and it makes them feel better.
Devise and use a `keeper line' for your sling. This keeps your counterweight from being whacked in the head.
Make sure draw-lines are affixed to the arm securely. If they fall off, the arm will konk someone on the head.
Advise your counterweight to not bend their arms. Use gravity instead. (It's more efficient and stronger.)
Make sure everyone on the counter weight team knows how to count to three.

Also this:

Counterweight should be created in manageable chunks. 400lb blocks seem cool, but are instead lame.
Never stand under the counterweight.
Never put body parts where the throwing arm wants to go.
Take advantage of all mechanical advantage available to modern hobbyists.
If nothing breaks, you don't have enough counterweight.

Trebuchets are ancient, but dangerous engines of war. Vermont pumpkins are starting to tremble.

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Seige Engine - Juggernaut 2

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While trebuchets are dangerous, we do not think they are as dangerous as some of the contraptions that travel to Delaware to compete at the World Championship Punkin Chunkin in November. For example, the centrifugal class machines are especially risky.

Note in the following video, of the Team TMC Inertia II centrifugal machine practice hurling a pumpkin, how they park a 16 ton dump truck with the bed raised, directly behind their machine. This is to ensure that any premature release of the pumpkin, or loss of the arm, does not shoot a projectile at very high speed into anyone standing behind the machine.

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At the Delaware Punkin Chunkin championships spectators are not even permitted close to the competing machines. They also put up a safety screen behind some parts of the firing line to protect the spectators.

Since we operate on a much smaller scale at the Vermont Pumpkin Chuck we do not have to go to these lengths. However, we do want everyone to be safety conscious.

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Safety nets at Punkin Chunkin

Firing line at Punkin Chunkin, one air cannon is firing at sunset

Crowd at Punkin Chunkin behind fence

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So we will see you all in one week at the Boyden Family Farm. Be safe.

Trebuchet's Epic Fail

2011-09-15T11:34:00.003-04:00

The Boomer Trebuchet suffered a severe failure during a recent test firing in preparation for the 3rd Annual Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival on Sunday, October 2nd, 2011. We sincerely hope that your trebuchet testing is going better than this.

Don't forget there are now only 16 days until VTPC.

World Record Attempt and Great Music will be Highlights at 3rd Annual VTPC

2011-09-07T12:12:00.029-04:00

Yes, as we wrote in our press release for the 3rd Annual Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival, we will be attempting to establish a world record for the most pumpkins hurled in a mass volley by trebuchets.

We will be video recording our massive pumpkin barrage and submitting it to RecordSetter.com (formerly URDB.org - Universal Record Database). RecordSetter has established themselves as the preeminent recorder of unique records. The following story from BusinessWeek tells of how RecordSetter/URDB is taking over the offbeat record business from stodgy old Guinness.

BusinessWeek / March 11, 2011:
Online Site URDB Takes on Guinness World Records --

Offbeat world records for everything from Most Giraffe Tattoos on a Shoulder to Most Bananas Fit Inside a Pair of Pants While Wearing Them are being created on urdb.org...

Guinness World Records does not a have a category for most giraffe tattoos on a shoulder. Instead, MacDonald and Fowler battled for the title through a website that's threatening to usurp the London-based behemoth's 56-year hegemony of the world-record industry: the Universal Record Database (urdb.org), the superlative compendium of the Information Age. "Our spirit is pure democracy," says Dan Rollman, 37, the Canadian-born, Brooklyn-dwelling co-founder of the site. "We take the power of the Internet, democratize world records, and create an online space where anybody can set a new world record."...

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A personal favorite RecordSetter.com record of ours is this one set by Cameron Diaz on the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon Show, Most Bunnies Snuggled With In A Hammock:

Cameron Diaz snuggled with 48 bunny rabbits in a hammock at one time, a new world record. Diaz got on a hammock, covered herself with a blanket and then had an animal wrangler place the bunnies upon her.

Diaz set the record on June 26, 2009 in New York City during the taping of a URDB segment on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. Corey Henderson served as a witness and counted the bunnies.

Diaz's record of 48 bunnies was broken in July 2009 by Perth, Australia, DJ Nathan Morris, who got 50 bunnies in his hammock.

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So we wanted to alert all you Pumpkin Chuckin' folks that you will be a part of history on Sunday, October 2nd at the Boyden Family Farm. The farm is in Cambridge, at Vermont Routes 15 & 104, in the heart of the Green Mountains.

Admission to the festival will cost $5 for adults and $3 for ages 12 and under. The festival goes from from noon to 4pm, featuring 3 competitive firings at 1pm, 2pm and 3pm with awards shortly after. No dogs and no alcohol please. Parking is free. Food will be provided by the Rotary.

We also wanted to put out the word that even if your trebuchet does not meet our entry requirements for the competition you are invited to "throw for show" and be a part of our world record attempt. Please contact Dave Jordan, the organizer, and let him know that you are coming.

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Great Music!

Also, don't forget we will also have some great music at our 3rd Annual VT Pumpkin Chuck. There will be three great performers: Mike Dunn, John Smyth, and the Honeybeez. They will be playing from 1pm to 4pm.

John Smyth

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Great Prizes!

We will again have great prizes for the pumpkin chuckin' competition, provided courtesy of our fantastic Festival Sponsors:

Glider ride for 2 by Stowe Soaring
Dinner for 2 by Trattoria La Festa in Stowe
Dinner for 2 at Bee's Knees in Morrisville
Gift Certificate at Umiak Outfitters in Stowe

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Since 2009, the festival has been held to benefit the Lamoille Family Center in Morrisville, VT and the Cambridge Area Rotary Club.

So there is no reason on earth for you to miss this year's 3rd Annual Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival. See you all there!

One Month Until 3rd Annual Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival

2011-09-02T10:51:00.001-04:00

Get ready to lock and load your trebuchets. There is only one month remaining until our 3rd Annual Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival on October 2nd at the Boyden Family Farm.

We know everyone is itching to chuck some pumpkins and have some fun given this mess from Irene.

There was a fellow from Morrisville,
Who said all this rain was making him ill.
He took solace in the garage,
Where he planned a pumpkin barrage,
A big 10 foot trebuchet would fill the bill.

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Hurling Season Approaches

2011-08-13T11:59:00.012-04:00

There are now only 49 days remaining until the 3rd Annual Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival, on Sunday, October 2nd, 2011.

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Warwick Castle, Warwickshire, England

We love our trebuchets and "Pumpkin chuckin" in Vermont, but we have a ways to go to match the English for their love of all things medieval. Probably because there is no medieval history for the United States. No knights and trebuchets fought for control of Vermont castle keeps. Yes, those were the days. We will ignore the part about the black plague, famine, and short wretched lives.

Anyway, Warwick Castle, "Britain's Ultimate Castle," runs a medieval theme park that looks like it can be pretty intense. They have their famous Warwick trebuchet that hurls fireballs and realistic jousting tournaments. They also added a new dungeon attraction a couple of years ago that was reviewed as follows:

In the first month since the dungeon opened, 15 people have fainted and another four have vomited, apparently due to fear.

Visitors to the medieval dungeon are greeted by fake blood and life-size models of victims on the rack. Guides demonstrate how prisoners used to have their tongues ripped out.

Sue Kemp, general manager of Warwick Castle, said: "Our first month has certainly proved that the castle dungeon isn't for the fainthearted or those of a delicate constitution."

An official commented: "If there are many more incidents like these then the dungeon will have to be toned down."

Warwick Castle was built by William the Conqueror in 1068 and used as a fortification. Some of the early prisoners were French soldiers...

Publicity for the dungeon attraction refers to "decaying bodies, chanting monks, torture implements and execution."

So, Vermont Pumpkin' Chuckin' is very tame stuff compared to going full medieval like they do at Warwick Castle. We will guarantee that no tongues will be removed at VTPC. But, please feel free to wag your tongues and tell your friends about VTPC.

Here is a nice tame video that shows off some of what goes on at Warwick Castle, including the trebuchet hurl of the fireball at the end.

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Warwick Castle grounds

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Wikipedia says this about the Warwick trebuchet:

In June 2005, Warwick Castle became home to one of the world's largest working siege engines. The trebuchet is 18 metres (59 ft) tall, made from over 300 pieces of oak and weighs 22 tonnes (24 short tons). The machine, which was made in Wiltshire, takes eight men half an hour to load and release. It is designed to be capable of hurling projectiles distances of up to 300 metres (980 ft) and as high as 25 metres (82 ft) and can throw up to 150 kilograms (330 lb) of ammunition at a time. On 21 August 2006, the trebuchet claimed the record as the most powerful catapult of its type when it sent a projectile weighing 13 kilograms (29 lb) a distance of 249 metres (817 ft) at a speed of 260 kilometres per hour (160 mph), beating the previous record held by a machine in Denmark. The war machine is situated on the banks of the River Avon which runs below the castle.

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See you soon!

Be the Pumpkin: Human Hurling Trebuchet (Don't try this at home)

2011-07-06T14:36:00.003-04:00

Reminder: there are only 87 days until the 3rd Annual Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival on Sunday, October 2nd, 2011.

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There was a club in Oxfordshire,
Who wanted humans to fire,
They built a large trebuchet,
Then flung people for play,
Sadly, one poor soul did expire.

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This Dangerous Human Trebuchet from Oxfordshire, England was profiled on a MythBusters episode. The episode, number 35, entitled Border Slingshot, was shown during season 3, and premiered on July 27, 2005. MythBusters tested the following myth:

Is it feasible to fly over the frontier? In this episode, Adam and Jamie take on the myth that illegal immigrants are firing themselves 200 yards across the border and into the United States with a slingshot so accurate, it can land the human projectiles safely on a carefully placed mattress. Border patrols are reportedly baffled — can the MythBusters' handbuilt human-sized slingshot solve the puzzle?

Annotated MythBusters:
In 2000 the Dangerous Sports Club launched Stella Young by trebuchet. She hit the net, then bounced onto the ground, breaking her pelvis. In 2002 a 19 year-old died in his attempt to repeat the stunt, missing the net entirely.

The 'Border Slingshot' myth by the way was busted.

The Dangerous Sport Club website adds more details and photos regarding Stella Young's brush with death and other human hurls. However, they do not mention the poor chap who was killed? You would think that information might be provided as part of a full disclosure on the risks involved.

"Scaredevil Stella: Plucky Dangerous Sports Club member Stella Young"

Stella Feeling Anxious

Travelling at 50mph, Stella begins to exit the arc

Eek!

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There was a woman named Stella,
Who wanted to prove she was not yella,
She got hurled long range,
By some folks deranged,
Now poor Stella's pelvis is jella.

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This crazy club is still asking visitors, "Are you extreme enough to have a go?"

So, do you feel lucky pumpkin chuckers? Do any of you want to be the pumpkin? No thank you here. Pumpkins serve just fine as trebuchet projectiles.

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The MURLIN Trebuchet

2011-06-02T14:52:00.007-04:00

Don't forget there are only 121 days until the 3rd Annual Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival on October, 2nd, 2011.

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There were some folks from Tucson,
Who wanted to get their geek on,
They built a MURLIN trebuchet,
That on YouTube they did display,
Three cheers for brain over brawn.

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YouTube:
Development of a Dynamically Tuned MURLIN Trebuchet [video channel] -- Development of a MURLIN (rhymes with hurlin') trebuchet which is tuned to work with a bending structure.

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The Golf Ball MURLIN:

Full power tests for the 5-armed MURLIN (Multi-Radius Linear Nodes) Trebuchet.

Dropping the full 37.5 counterweight in a still wind results in consistent distances (5 shots) over 600 feet. Longest shot found was 620 ft. The frame is reinforced for these tests because previous movies had shown substantial flexure under the 1000lb load just before release.

I believe my radar gun is unreliable (reading low due to slow sampling rates), but one reading of 127 mph was taken.

If you look carefully, you can see the golf balls actually curve upwards in flight due to the (Magnus effect) spin given by the pouch upon release...

Update: 22 May 2011 - Distances recorded up to 708 ft. this morning in a calm wind. 5mm Spectra cord and larger pulleys responsible for improved performance.

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The Scrappy Old Man of Vermont

2011-04-14T06:19:00.013-04:00

Sure it's wet and muddy, and maybe you have books to study, but don't be a fuddy and forget our pumpkin chuck.

There are 170 days until the 3rd Annual Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival on Sunday, October 2nd, 2011.

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There was an Old Man of Vermont,
Who picked up scraps people don't want,
He build an awesome trebuchet,
And hurled pumpkins far away,
That scrappy Old Man of Vermont.

The Scrappy Old Man of Vermont

An Awesome Trebuchet

photos via Flickr

The Sheriff of Pumpkinville

2011-02-04T10:41:00.002-05:00

Sure it's cold and snowy, and maybe you're icing the puck, but don't forget the chuck.

There are 239 days until the 3rd Annual Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival.

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There was an Old Sheriff of Pumpkinville.
Who said, 'There is a bit of a chill!
But, watchin' pumpkins get hurled,
And hangin' with my girl,
Is always the ultimate thrill!'

The Sheriff of Pumpkinville and his bride

photo via Flickr

Pumpkin Chuckin' Roundup

2010-12-03T17:47:00.007-05:00

Science Channel has the Pumpkin Hand

Here are some things in the world of pumpkin chuckin' that caught our eye.

The Science Channel scored a ratings home run, or an epic hurl if you prefer, with their Myth Busters hosted telecast of the World Championship Punkin Chunkin on Thanksgiving evening, Nov. 25th.

FutonCritic.com:
Punkin Chunkin Splatters Simulcast Ratings Record for Discovery Channel, Science Channel --

Special Delivers 4 Million Gross Average (P2+) Viewers
World Premiere Simulcast Gives Science Channel Highest Rating in Network History

related:
Zap2it / TV by the Numbers:
Driven By 'Punkin Chunkin,' 'Cold Diggers,' and 'How It's Made' Science Channel Posts Best Month Ever in November

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Add your own caption to this one from Punkin Chunkin.

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Something about Pumpkin Chunkin' inspires musical creativity. Please send us an email or a tweet if you know where the Science Channel is hiding the mp3 for that catchy Punkin Chunkin tune they used as background music on their promotional video for the Punkin Chunkin show. It's the one minute video entitled "Punkin Chunkin 2010" here on this Science Channel link.

Science.Discovery.com:
Best of Punkin Chunkin videos

Here's another musical take on pumpkin hurling by Doug James.

DelmarvaNow.com:
Ode to Chunkin -- song returns for anniversary -- Those who think three days of Punkin Chunkin isn't enough can be reminded of the event all year long by listening to the "Punkin Chunkin Song."

Originally recorded and released in 1992 by Doug James, the tune is back on the market in celebration of the event's 25th anniversary. The song may be purchased online, and a portion of all proceeds will go to charity...

Sound Clip of a Doug James Punkin Chunkin song

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The lyrics to yet another pumpkin ode.

Gladling.com:
25th Anniversary World Punkin Chunkin Championships -- ... the official Punkin Chunkin song (yes, there's a song, we're not making this up), written 1989 by William and Dawn Thompson, has become a traditional part of the event's daily opening ceremonies. It's pasted below for your viewing pleasure:

It was the end of October, the beginning of November.
The air was cold and clear and I said, Boys listen here,
I think I can make a punkin fly.
John said, Cannot. I said, Can too.
So we put that punkin in a bucket, swung around, away it flew.
John said, No fair. We said, Hell, it's in the air.
So the challenge was made and the gauntlet was laid
To build a machine to power a punkin through the air.
John said, Springs are the way to go. Bill said, I don't believe so.
It's Punkin Chunkin time again.
Come on, all you neighbors and friends.
I'll show you how to make a punkin fly ... rain, snow or blow.
Them punkins are gonna go!

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A music video remix of Punkin Chunkin.

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Plus, we also, of course, have our own VTPC Trebuchet Song. Not as polished as the above, but hey we're on a budget.

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Tech. talk: A very interesting discussion about the use of a free falling counter-weight on your trebuchet. Has links to videos of interesting trebs.

TheHurl.org:
Free Falling CW

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Only 302 days until next year's pumpkin carnage at the Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival.

Death to All Pumpkins

New England: Land of Innovative Pumpkin Hurlers

2010-11-11T17:34:00.006-05:00

A nice wrap-up story about the strong showing by two New England teams at the World Championship Punkin Chunkin.

Members of the Launch-Ness Monster team pose with their pumpkin-tossing trebuchet at the World Championship Punkin Chunkin contest in Delaware

Nasuha Telegraph:
Area hurlers squash competition --

Two Nashua-area pumpkin hurlers didn’t break any records this month at the World Championship Punkin Chunkin contest. But they did steal the show, the teams said, as they returned from the 25th annual competition, held in Bridgeville, Del.

The American Chunker, an air cannon from Nashua, placed fourth in the competition’s air cannon division, reaching 3,535 feet in its second attempt. But the company drew more attention for its sleek design and corporate sponsorship from the Shipyard Brewery in Portsmouth...

And in the trebuchet division, the Launch-Ness Monster, built by a team from Merrimack, placed sixth after its best shot, of 1,618 feet, was disqualified due to a technical issue. But the 34-foot-tall, 11,000-pound machine garnered far more praise for its advanced, steel-framed design, said lead engineer Jay Goodell.

Goodell and his co-designer Michael Powers, both 27, incorporated several elements, including a rolling throwing arm and a curved weight track, that have never before been used in pumpkin chunking competition, they said...

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related:
Granite Greek:
Two 4th, one 5th-place finish for NH teams at Punkin Chunkin contest

More from World Championship Punkin Chunkin

2010-11-07T21:53:00.042-05:00

updated:

Items of interest about the World Championship Punkin Chunk that ended today down in Bridgeville, Delaware.

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Delmarva.com:
Thousands on hand for splats, misfires, 'pie' on Chunkin's last day

~~Unofficial~~ Official 2010 results:

Adult Air Cannon -- Emancipator, 3,728.84 feet
Adult Female Air Cannon -- Hormone Blaster, 3,755.65 feet
Adult Centrifugal -- Bad to the Bone, 2,005.14 feet
Adult Catapult -- Chucky 2, 2,027.96 feet
Adult Trebuchet -- Pumpkin Hammer, 1,972.26 feet
Adult Human Powered -- Pumpkin Slayer, 1,635.69 feet
Adult Torsion Catapult -- Chucky III, 2,836.28 feet
Youth Air Cannon -- Snot Rocket, 3,086.56 feet
Youth Catapult -- Punkin Warrior III, 1,129.21 feet
Youth Human Powered -- Rockville, 781.65 feet
Youth Trebuchet -- Imperial Pride, 778.37 feet
Youth 10 and Under -- Punkin Seeds, 795.64 feet

punkinchunkin.com / 2010 results

Other Machines:

Big 10 Inch, Adult Air Cannon, 3584.20 feet, 2nd place
American Chunker Inc, Adult Air Cannon, 3535.27 feet, 4th place
Medieval Postal Service, Adult Trebuchet, 1309.40 feet, 6th place
Launch-ness Monster, Adult Trebuchet, 1265.86 feet, 7th place

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note: The Launch-Ness Monster trebuchet from Merrimack, New Hampshire is utilizing a curved track, at the 43 second mark of the video.

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The Launch-Ness Monster Facebook page has more photos and stuff, also checkout their photo essay, Road to Punkin Chunkin:

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Delaware Online:
2010 Photo Gallery

Steve Chupp secures the ammo for the United Flingdom III,

a team that finished third last year in the Centrifugal Division.

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Team Urban Siege (Medieval Postal Service trebuchet) updates on the 3rd day of the event:
WCPC 2010 - Day 3

The final day of the 2010 World Championships of Punkin Chunkin saw major winds kill the distances of many teams, but there were still some nice shots. In the trebuchet division, none of the top 3 machines from Day 2 shot any further, although First in Fright shot a solid 1815' into a stiff headwind. Tired Iron also shot less, so 1443' was his top shot. Shenangians recovered from a disasterous free fire shot Saturday morning that resulted in missing the day 2 shot and popped a 1391' shot into the wind, the machine is certainly capable of more. Hokie Hurler shot less again, so 850 was it's final top distance of 2010, they are not sure why it shot so much less this year.

Now for the movement section. We squeezed 100 more pounds of counterweight on for a total of 800 pounds (this was not a simple addition mind you, we had to carry the weight part way up the ladder, but for one shot it was fine). The shot blasted nicely through the wind for a whopping 1309', easily a personal best and netted us 6th place when Prawn shot in the 1000's. Launch-Ness Monster got disqualified for their sling getting thrown downrange, but the shot went over 1600 feet with around 2500 pounds of weight...

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DelmarvaNow.com:
Chunkin marks 25 years -- Young participants don't rely on parents; youth division piques engineering interest ...

Wilmington-based Sanford School has fielded a team for the past 10 years. Each June, a group of students begins work on the school's trebuchet, which has been altered slightly each year since its creation in 2005.

Physics and mathematics teacher Jon Roberts said it's a great introduction to engineering for his students.

"We are there as guides, but they pretty much run it themselves," he said. "It's their baby."

Fellow teacher and head coach Andre Dagenais said participation in Punkin Chunkin has sparked an interest in engineering for many of his former students. The student who created the design for the current trebuchet is in his junior year at Rowan College in New Jersey.

"This gives these kids that have engineering talent an opportunity to be creative and learn what teamwork is all about," he said. "For us it's fun and it's a chance to teach kids a good lesson."

While many find the launch process of trebuchets more intriguing, they don't nearly achieve the same distance as the cannons. Young Glory III holds the current record for launching a pumpkin more than 4,483 feet...

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WCPC was like Woodstock this year!

Nones Notes:
Projectile Pumpkins: The New Fall Pastime --

In fact, this year’s event was the 25th anniversary of a competition that began in its first competition with just four contestants. This year, nearly 100 contestants participated in numerous classes – air, centrifugal, catapult, trebuchet, torsion … and yes, human-powered as well.

When we arrived at the competition venue on Saturday morning – basically a large field in rural Sussex County – it became evident quite quickly that the torrential rains from Thursday had turned the viewing area into a sea of mud. As we were slogging our way up to the viewing area and very nearly coming out of our shoes as they sank into the mire, I couldn’t help but think of a work colleague’s story of surviving his own personal Woodstock Festival “soggy adventure” in 1969....

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Delaware Online:
Punkin Chunkers have a blast in Sussex -- Actually, as hard-core chunkers would tell you, pumpkins aren't vegetables -- they're fruit.

But no one would quibble with the flying part, least of all Joe Kane of Dewey Beach. He's been coming for years, since it was over in the Lewes area. One year, he and some friends competed in the human-powered category.

"We took two 2x4s and put them in the ground, 10 bungee cords, a bucket and rope," and created a slingshot of sorts, he explained. Their pumpkins went up in the air about 100 feet -- but only landed a few feet away.

"Not much distance," Kane chuckled. "But it was a lot of fun."...

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WCPC has become like the Super Bowl for the Science Channel. They've brought out their "big guns".

Jamie Hyneman from MythBusters at the World Championship Punkin Chunkin

MythBusters' Adam Savage Covers the Action for Discovery Channel & Science Channel Fans

Photos via Science Channel on Twitter and at FaceBook

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Everyone wants a piece of that delicious Punkin Chunkin funnel cake.

Jocelyn Wong's Blog:
bustin’ myths about pageants and punkins -- So you remember how excited I was about entering this year’s Punkin Chunkin Pageant? Well, the day came today. I’d be working the event for MSN TV to do a story on the Discovery Channel/Science Channel Thanksgiving Day broadcast of the 25th annual Punkin Chunkin World Championship.

I shopped for a cute outfit. I practiced my speech. I watched America’s Next Top Model and worked on my stage walk.

The pageant was at 12:30pm. They said to get there by 11:30am, 12noon at the latest. But “come early to avoid traffic.” Ominous....

with Adam of the Mythbusters

of course there is pumpkin funnel cake!
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Twiterings about WCPC:

Jeff Del Papa with Mista Ballista torsion machine from Framingham, MA tweets about WCPC...
Twitter / @rjnerd

Chatted with Jamie at the chunk, they kept Adam too busy to talk...

another long day, but we got a pumpkin to leave the front of the machine, and land 803' away. 110' further than prev record...

Survived first day. Field a quagmire, sink in over the ankle, and the mud wants to keep your shoe. everything 2x the work...

Twitter / #punkinchunkin

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Science Channel:
Punkin Chunkin Game / Lord of the Gourd

VTPC Final Score: 6088 = "Raw Recruit"

World Championship Punkin Chunkin Roundup

2010-11-06T23:53:00.016-04:00

After two days of competition at the 25th Annual World Championship Punkin Chunkin (WCPC) 2010 in Delaware the trebuchet Pumpkin Hammer is leading in that category with a hurl of 1979 feet.

Team Urban Siege from Rochester, New York, has been posting day-by-day accounts of the event. They are competing in the trebuchet class with a machine named Medieval Postal Service.

WCPC 2010 - Day 2 -- Posted 2010-11-6. Category: news

Another day gone at the 2010 World Championships of Punkin Chunkin. Some interesting results. The Day 1 leaders, Pumpkin Hammer, added counterweight and didn't change their sling, resulting in a late release netting them a much shorter shot than Friday's 1979. They have added more weight for Sunday, allegedly 2000 pounds total, and tweaked pin/sling. Time will tell if that gets them over the hump. American Chucker chucked their throwing arm 100 feet downrange and the pumpkin maybe 1300 or so, so they retain their day 1 shot as well which was just under 1800 feet. First in Fright added 300 pounds to his counterweight, tweaked his tuning, and blasted a TREMENDOUS 1920 shot, moving it into a close second place. Rumor has it that they are adding more weight tomorrow...

related:
WCPC 2010 - Day 1
Testing Day

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A Twitter report has American Chunker from New Hampshire in 2nd place after the first day (in the Air Cannon category):

Hey everyone, American Chunker is sitting in 2nd place after the first day of punkin! First shot was 3539', AMAZING!

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Also, American Chunker posted this news item about the event:

According to the WCPCA President John Huber and another reliable source at Discovery the Mythbusters will be the 2010 Punkin Chunkin hosts! What a great match for the event. You can expect to see Jamie and Adam all weekend in Delaware - who knows you may even get to meet them. They will certainly boost the events fan base by a substantial margin. We can't wait to work with these guys, what an outstanding selection for this years hosts, the WCPCA has gone all out for the 25th anniversery!

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Delaware On Line adds some more details regarding the Myth Busters hosting WCPC:

Boom goes the punkin -- For the third year in a row, Discovery Networks will produce a special at this weekend’s event to be simulcasted Thanksgiving night on both the Discovery and Science channels with Savage and Hyneman serving as hosts. A one-hour “Road to Punkin Chunkin” documentary will air the night before, Nov. 24, on the Science Channel.

“Next to football games, turkey and pumpkin pie, Punkin Chunkin is a national Thanksgiving tradition,” Clark Bunting, Discovery Channel president and general manager said in a statement announcing this year’s programming, which will be filmed at the event site near Bridgeville at the Wheatley Farm.

It’s hard to underestimate the power of the Discovery Channel exposure for Delaware’s quirkiest event, which officially kicks off Friday at 7:30 a.m. and ends at 5 p.m. Sunday with the naming of this year’s champion. Before 2008, the event drew about 30,000 to 50,000 spectators. Last year’s record crowd of 80,000 is expected to be surpassed this year....

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Punkin Chunk sounds like it's becoming one big party.

Delaware Online:
Punkin' Chunkin' draws a roarin' crowd -- Mostly clear skies and crisp fall weather welcomed tens of thousands of people to the cornfields outside Bridgeville today for the second day of the event, which has grown from a handful of friends figuring out ways to toss pumpkins around to a national tourist-heavy event with cable TV coverage, corporate sponsorships, live entertainment galore, kids’ carnival rides and food vendors of all types.

It would also not be surprising to learn that the area has the highest short-term per capita rate of alcohol consumption in the United States, as countless visitors hauled in cases of beer, set up camping chairs and portable shelters, and settled in to party and watch slingshots, trebuchets and air cannons effortlessly toss pumpkins far across a farm field. Total attendance is expected to surpass last year's record of 80,000.

Erik Heilman of Washington, D.C., was in Ocean City, Md., for a bachelor party, and he and his buddies decided to spend the day at the chunk.

“It’s pretty cool – I’m impressed,” said Heilman. “It’s always fun to get a bunch of people in a big field with beer, and when you add flying vegetables – there’s no way that’s not going to be a party!”...

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Here is a very interesting story about an innovative new steel trebuchet from New Hampshire named the Launch-Ness Monster that is competing in Delaware. They have used a new design feature: a curved track for the counter weight. How cool is that? We'll have to find some better pictures of their design.

Nashua Telegraph:
Team heads to Punkin Chunkin championship -- [Jay] Goodell and [Michael] Powers’ computer-aided methods may draw some heat in Delaware. There is something of a divide between the more traditional hobbyists who design their machines by hand and the younger engineers, many of whom use computer programs for their designs, Goodell and Powers said.

But the machine itself, which features a number of state-of-the-art advancements, will draw nothing but admiration from across the pumpkin chunkin community, the team members said. The two designed the machine to include a rolling arm and a curved weight track that have never before been used in pumpkin chunkin competition, they said.

The arm, designed to slide along a slanted base while it propels the pumpkin, is able to build momentum and transfer energy more quickly to the pumpkin without knocking it off, said Goodell, who designed his first trebuchet five years ago for the Milford Pumpkin Festival. And the curved track allows the counter weight to drop straight down then curve slowly to a stop rather than crashing to the ground, like other machines, he said.

“It’s been talked about, but I don’t think it’s ever been done,” Powers said. “No one’s taken it this far anyway.” ....

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FYI:

WGMD 92.7 FM: Schedule of Events at WCPC 2010

2nd Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival Results

2010-10-04T14:19:00.007-04:00

Note from the organizer (Dave Jordan) regarding the festival and the results:

Thanks to all the competitors and their support teams and spectators and sponsors that made this a great event! We had triple the competitors and roughly triple the spectators from last year and great TV and newspaper exposure. Also a special thanks to the people who assisted me running the festival: Mark and Laurie Boyden (owners of the farm), John Prittie (Master of Ceremonies), Russell Baum (safety), John Duffy (safety), Bob Gross (spotter), Scott ? (the measurer), Mike Gladu (records), Bruce Wallace (buying the trophies), Wilbur's Dog, Lamoille Family Center volunteers and probably a bunch I've forgotten. Sorry if I missed anyone.

Hopefully everyone enjoyed the competition, music and especially seeing American Chunker's huge air cannon. I had a lot of comments regarding the complicated rules and am open to suggestions to simplify things. One suggestion was to have only 2 rounds, instead of 3. I am also open to any suggestions that would make the event better. With the help of the Cambridge Rotary and all our sponsors, we intend to make this an annual event, always on the 1st Sunday in October. So if you have any ideas, please email me or give me a call (802) 888-2910 and we will consider them. Also if I got any of the records wrong or got a name or team wrong, please contact me and I'll change it on this blog.

I personally like the categories, which in my mind give the little kids with limited resources an equal chance at winning the grand prize. I've modelled this tournament after the Soap Box Derby which I enjoyed competing in as a kid. They had strict weight limits and rules so each car/kid was competing on equal footing.

Each year my Soap Box Derby car got better and better; by watching the other competitors and seeing what works. This year's trebuchets were vastly superior to last year!

We gave out 14 awards: 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in 4 divisions, 1 overall best design and 1st place in the unlimited air cannon division. I've listed all the competitors with their best result and scaled results and any penalties.

First in the Unlimited Air Cannon Division; we only had 1 competitor, American Chunker and they made their mark with an incredible distance of 4375 feet (plus or minus roughly 400 feet). This is a personal best for American Chunker and may very well have actually beat the world record of over 4600 feet! We wish them all the luck in the World Championships coming up in November in Delaware.

Trebuchets:

Lightweight Division: height limit 41 inches, weight limit (of total trebuchet) 20 pounds, projectile = 3 ounce pumpkin.

Middleweight Division: height limit 70 inches, weight limit 100 pounds, projectile = 1 lb. pumpkin.

Heavyweight Division: height limit 10 feet, weight limit 500 pounds, projectile = 5 lb. pumpkin.

All lightweight trebuchets distances were scaled up by 2.9 to represent the distance they would throw if they were 10 feet tall. This division was limited to ages 10 and under.

All middleweight trebuchets were scaled up by 1.7 to represent the distance they would throw if they were 10 feet tall. The middleweight had 2 divisions; Junior (limited to ages 17 and under) and Open (all ages).

The Heavyweight division were not scaled, since they were limited to 10 feet. This division was open to all ages.

Penalties for exceeding height and weight limitations:

If any trebuchet was taller than allowed or heavier than allowed for their division they were penalized proportionally.

For example, Pumpkins' Bane was 144" tall (limit is 120") and 831 lbs (limit is 500). So they were penalized twice. Once by 120/144 (for height) and second by 500/831 (for weight) so their actual throw was 353 feet, their penalized throw was 353 * (120/144) * (500/831) = 176 feet.

Only 4 (of 18 total) trebuchets were penalized; all in the heavyweight division: Upchuck, Weapons of Medieval Destruction, The Griffin, and Pumpkins' Bane.

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Second Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival (2010) Results

We had 18 official total competitors across 4 divisions. This is up from 2009 where we had 6 official competitors. There were 6 heavyweight, 4 middleweight Open, 5 Middleweight Junior and 3 Lightweights.

Award: Best Overall Design (farthest throw for their height)
Name: Troublemaker from Middleweight Open Division
Team: Wayne Powell (captain)
Best Throw: 135' 6"
Scaled distance: 230 feet

Award: Heavyweight Division, 1st place
Name: Pumpkins' Bane
Team: Chris McGrody (captain), Dug North, Dav
Best Throw: 353' 4"
Penalty: 176' scaled by (120/144) for height and (500/831) for weight
Scaled distance: 176 feet

Award: Heavyweight Division, 2nd place
Name: Weapons of Medieval Destruction
Team: Nick Helms (captain), Bruce Penfield, Barry , Mike , Nancy
Best Throw: 237' 6"
Penalty: 162 scaled by (120/176) for height
Scaled distance: 162 feet

Award: Heavyweight Division, 3rd place
Name: Leeroy
Team: Matt Bose (captain), Ryan Bushey, Nathan, Jazmyn, Jess, Noah
Best Throw: 158' 0"
Scaled distance: 158 feet

Heavyweight Division, 4th place
Name: The Thing (Champion from 2009)
Team: Dave Barrows (captain), Eric Griffin, Chris Fish
Best Throw: 133' 6"
Scaled distance: 133 feet

Heavyweight Division, 5th place
Name: Upchuck
Team: Jon Underwood (captain)
Best Throw: 150' 4"
Penalty: 129 scaled by (500/583) for weight
Scaled distance: 129 feet

Heavyweight Division, 6th place
Name: The Griffin
Team: Ryan Doyle
Best Throw: 134' 1"
Penalty: 119 scaled by (120/136) for height
Scaled distance: 119 feet

Award: Middleweight Open Division, 1st place
Name: Troublemaker
Team: Wayne Powell
Best Throw: 135' 6"
Scaled distance: 230 feet

Award: Middleweight Open Division, 2nd place
Name: Team Jordan
Team: Don Jordan (captain), Johnnie Jordan, Chris Jordan
Best Throw: 127' 0"
Scaled distance: 216 feet

Award: Middleweight Open Division, 3rd place
Name: Plattsburgh Golden Cardinal
Team: Tobey Betthauser
Best Throw: 97' 5"
Scaled distance: 165 feet

Middleweight Open Division, 4th place
Name: Pumpkin Crusher
Team: Aidan Miller-Buchanan family
Best Throw: 19' 5"
Scaled distance: 33 feet

Award: Middleweight Junior Division, 1st place
Name: Pumpkin Airline
Team: Bruce Wallace family
Best Throw: 122' 11"
Scaled distance: 209 feet

Award: Middleweight Junior Division, 2nd place
Name: Alfred
Team: Oakley Lisson (captain)
Best Throw: 113' 3"
Scaled distance: 192 feet

Award: Middleweight Junior Division, 3rd place
Name: Cambridge Boy Scout Troop 39
Team: Unknown
Best Throw: 69' 4"
Scaled distance: 118 feet

Middleweight Junior Division, 4th place
Name: Enterprise
Team: Phillip Raymond
Best Throw: 31' 8"
Scaled distance: 54 feet

Middleweight Junior Division, 5th place
Name: School Slinger
Team: John Szewczyk (captain)
Best Throw: 20' 0"
Scaled distance: 34 feet

Award: Lightweight Division, 1st place
Name: PVC
Team: Lindsay Wescom
Best Throw: 31' 5"
Scaled distance: 78 feet

Award: Lightweight Division, 2nd place
Name: Unnamed
Team: Sawyer Wescom
Best Throw: 24' 6"
Scaled distance: 71 feet

Award: Lightweight Division, 3rd place
Name: Cambridge Cub Scouts
Team: Tom Lepsic
Best Throw: 13' 5"
Scaled distance: 39 feet

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Honorable mention: James Spanier, who was the hit of the 2009 Festival was working on a huge trebuchet with a whopping 1900 lb. counterweight. Same as last year, he didn't try to conform to any category and just wanted to build a huge trebuchet. Alas, his monster self-destructed days before the event and he had to leave it home.

Nonetheless, he brought a "Barbie" trebuchet, only 25 inches tall and threw 38 feet. When scaled up to 10 feet this would have thrown 182 feet and would have placed 5th in the overall best design category. We wish James all the best in his ultimate desire to build a huge trebuchet and compete at the World Championships in the trebuchet category. He estimates it will take him 5 or 6 years to complete and perfect his beast. The world record in the trebuchet category just went over 2000 feet last year, to Yankee Siege (recently retired) of New Hampshire.

Also honorable mention goes to Team Jordan, consisting of Don, Johnnie and Chris Jordan; the dad, mom and uncle of the event organizer Dave Jordan. They came the farthest to compete with Chris flying up from Fort Lauderdale to join team Jordan for the long drive from Palmyra, NY to see the spectacle. They got 2 conservative throws in to make sure they had something in the book, then went for broke on their 3rd and last try by propping the counterweight on its end to get double the potential energy. This didn't work and threw worse than before.

Undetered, they tweaked it a little and after the competition was officially over, threw a whopping 180 feet! When scaled up (306 feet), this would have won not only their Middleweight Open Division, but also the Overall Best Design. Hopefully they will come back next year and try again.

More VT Pumpkin Chuckin'

2010-10-04T13:40:00.006-04:00

A very nice write-up and photo by the Burlington Free Press about VTPC.

Gail Callahan / Burlington Free Press:
Pumpkins fly in Cambridge fundraising event -- As a boy, Mark Boyden watched a pumpkin hurling contest on television and became intrigued with the idea. Sunday, Boyden and his wife, Lauri, got to live his childhood fantasy by hosting a pumpkin-chucking event that will financially help two Lamoille County organizations...

For the six members of the American Chunker team, the festival allowed them to record a personal best chucking record of 4,690 feet. Based in Nashua, N.H., American Chunker constructed a 125-foot tall trebuchet powered by an air compressor. The machine was off in a section of a field, separated from other participants...

[note: American Chunker is an air cannon, not a trebuchet]

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Also, thank you American Chunker for visiting VTPC and showing off your fantastic technology. Congratulations on your personal record chuck of 4,690 feet, and good luck in Delaware next month. The American Chunker team will be at the Damariscotta Pumpkinfest and Regatta in Maine this Friday and Saturday, October 8-9.

Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival News Roundup

2010-10-03T23:05:00.002-04:00

It was a very enjoyable day of pumpkin chuckin'. Thank you everyone for coming.

We'll have the competition results posted tomorrow. But in the meantime here are a couple of news reports about the festival.

Gina Bullard / WCAX News:
A higher purpose for pumpkins -- Harvest season is in full swing in Vermont. While many families are picking up pumpkins to carve and roast seeds, some in Cambridge are putting them to higher use -- catapulting them...

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Randy Gyllenhaal / WPTZ News (with video):
When Pumpkins Fly: Vermont Holds Competition -- It was like an ancient battlefield in Cambridge, Vt. on Sunday. Dozens of medieval catapults lined up to launch pumpkins across a field...

Down the home stretch to VTPC #2

2010-09-28T13:19:00.019-04:00

There are now 4 days and some odd hours until the 2nd Annual Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival at The Boyden Family Farm.

We hope for the competitors that all your work is going well and your trebuchets are taking their vitamins.

First, a reminder on the times for the VTPC festival. The gates to the festival will open at 11am for spectators. Admission to the festival will cost $5 for adults and $3 for ages 12 and under. Money raised goes to support the Lamoille Family Center and Cambridge Area Rotary.

Competitors may come early, before 11 am, and set up if they want to. Please give yourself adequate time to set up and get everything ready prior to the 1 pm start.

The first round of competitive trebuchet hurling will begin at 1 pm, the 2nd round at 2 pm, and the 3rd (final round) will be at 3 pm. The prizes will be awarded immediately following the 3rd round.

The American Chunker Air Cannon team from Merrimack, NH will be there early to set up. They report that they "should be up and operational by 10-11 am." So we expect they will do some shooting between 11 am and 1 pm. They posted these thoughts about their Vermont shoot:

THE FARM DOSEN'T QUITE HAVE A MILE OF OPEN FIELD SO WE WILL BE WORKING WITH 4000FT OR SO, WHICH IS PERFECT FOR OUR FIRST EXHIBITION EVENT. FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE ATTENDING THE EVENT, WE SHOULD BE UP AND OPERATIONAL BY 10-11 AM ON SUNDAY. TEAM AMERICAN CHUNKER IS LOOKING TO BREAK INTO THE 4000FT NEIGHBORHOOD WITH EASE ON SUNDAY. I'M SURE THERE WILL BE REAL SPOTTERS AND ACCURATE MEASURING ON SUNDAY TO GIVE THE CREW A REAL FEEL FOR TRUE DISTANCES. THIS IS A BIG TEST FOR THE ALL NEW CHUNKER - WILL SHE DELIVER..............?

Prepare yourself to be amazed at the latest and greatest in pumpkin smashing technology.

The music courtesy of Wilbur's Dog will begin about 12 noon.

A general reminder: the event is alcohol free and dogs are not allowed, Wilbur's Dog being the exception.

We will also be selling "official" Vermont Pumpkin Chunkin Festival t-shirts, for $15. We will have about 100 shirts.

Please stay tuned for any updates.

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For more details please see the press release and the competition rules.

Pumpkin Tossing

2010-09-16T23:48:00.003-04:00

If you want a glimpse of last year's Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival, check out this very well done audio slide show by Joshua Lambert of the Burlington Free Press. You might even see yourself if you were there last year.

Joshua Lambert / Burlington Free Press:
Pumkpin Toss -- Pumpkins were sent flying by trebuchets at the Boyden Family Farm in Cambridge on Sunday, October 4, 2009. This multimedia project from the event was created by Free Press Photo Intern Joshua Lambert. Music in the project is from the band Hub Cats, performing during the event.

Getting Medieval

2010-09-15T18:10:00.011-04:00

Reminder: There are only 18 days until the 2nd Annual Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival.

Here are some interesting views from the European Kampioenschap Pompoenschieten (Pumpkin Shooting Championship) held at Bikschote, Belgium on September 5th.

This is USA Team Carbo with their Onager.

An Onager is a "Wild Asian Ass." It is also the name of a Roman siege engine, which derived its name from the kicking action of the machine, similar to that of an onager (wild ass). Team Carbo was the Delaware Punkin Chunkin World Champions in the Unlimited Torsion Class 2003, 2004, 2005. It took 4 weeks to get their machine shipped to Europe. Reportedly over 7000 spectators attended the Belgian event.

Results from the large torsion machine category:

Team Bisschop met een schot van 726.4 meter (2383 feet)
Team Carbo: 648 meter (2125 feet)
Ypes: 625.3 meter
L.G. Bikschote: 442.7 meter

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Links:
Belgian Video News Report: kampioenschap-pompoenschieten
renews.be: Pompoenschieten Bikschote photos
Team Carbo/Onager Online
Pompoenschieten.be
Spudfiles / EuroForum: Chunkin Europe!

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Press Release for Second Annual Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival

2010-09-08T23:36:00.009-04:00

Second Annual Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival hurls off at The Boyden Family Farm on Sunday, October 3rd, 2010

CAMBRIDGE, Vermont, Sept. 8th — With a love for all things pumpkin, the Boyden Family Farm in Cambridge, VT and the Cambridge Area Rotary are hosting the state of Vermont's second annual official Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival to raise money for the Lamoille Family Center and Cambridge Rotary.

The first festival was a huge success with 10 teams competing and over 300 spectators enjoying the competition, music and picnic atmosphere. This year will have many more competitors and feature an air-cannon exhibition which was built by a team from New Hampshire that call themselves American Chunker. They plan to beat the world record (just 600 feet shy of a mile) at the world championship pumpkin chunkin contest in Delaware! They will also demonstrate the ability to fire a 10 round burst automatically (world's first).

Local inventor, J. J. Spanier (hit of the last year's festival) will also be back with an even bigger trebuchet, also an exhibition. Both these contraptions are not competing against the trebuchets which have 3 strict categories for height and weight. The "Thing" from a team in Morrisville will also be back to defend their title. They won last year with a toss of 135 feet. A Trebuchet is a huge, gravity-powered catapult that was employed in the Middle Ages as a siege engine to either to smash castle walls or to throw projectiles over them. These days they are built to hurl pumpkins for distance.

The world championship pumpkin-throwing contest is held the first weekend after Halloween in Sussex County, Delaware. Vermont's Pumpkin Chuckin Festival is an annual event, held on the first Sunday in October.

Dave Jordan, creator (and competitor) of the festival says, "This is a fun competition modeled after the Soap Box Derby. The height and weight are limited to make it fair for teams with limited resources. The team that throws a pumpkin the farthest FOR THEIR HEIGHT and will win best design prize and receive first pick of the prizes".

The festival will have four categories of competition, which also compete directly against each other:

· Lightweight Division: Open only to ages 10 and below
Max. total weight of trebuchet is 20 lbs.
Max. height is 41 inches
projectile = 3 ounces tomato

· Middleweight Junior Division: Open only to ages 17 and below:
Max. total weight of trebuchet is 100 lbs.
Max. height is 70 inches
projectile = 1 pound pumpkin

· Middleweight Open Division: Open to all ages
Max. total weight of trebuchet is 100 lbs.
Max. height is 70 inches
projectile = 1 pound pumpkin

· Heavyweight Division: Open to all ages
Max. total weight of trebuchet is 500 lbs.
Max. height is 10 feet
projectile = 5 pound pumpkin

Exciting prizes for the winners have been donated by some of the Festival sponsors. Prizes include:

Glider ride for 2 by Stowe Soaring
Dinner for 2 by Trattoria La Festa in Stowe
Dinner for 2 at Bee's Knees in Morrisville
Umiak Outfitters gift certificate

To create the proper atmosphere for a day of pumpkin hurling, Burlington's progressive rock band Wilbur's Dog will be performing from noon to dusk.

Other family activities at the VT Pumpkin Chuckin' festival will include:

Volleyball
Croquet
Food provided by Boyden Farm (get a famous Boyden Beef Burger)
Corn maze: $4 for adults, $2 for ages 12 and under

Admission to the festival will cost $5 for adults and $3 for ages 12 and under. The festival goes from from 11am to dark, featuring 3 competitive firings at 1pm, 2pm and 3pm with awards shortly after. No dogs and no alcohol please. Parking is free.

For more information about the First Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival, guests can visit the vtpumpkinchuckin.blogspot.com or call the festival organizer Dave Jordan at (802) 888-2910. Or contact Dave, via email at: DJordan@gmavt.net.

SOURCE: Dave Jordan

The American Chunker Backstory

2010-09-05T23:51:00.006-04:00

A very nice write-up and video about the American Chunker team in Sunday's Nashua Telegraph.

Nashua Telegraph:
Nashua native aims to build best pumpkin cannon -- Lots of people dream of building fancy do-it-yourself projects, but they don’t generally weigh 10,000 pounds, cost close to $100,000 or require friends to fly overhead to keep track of your progress.

“I am pretty obsessed with this,” admitted Brian Labrie, whose dream to build a machine that can shoot pumpkins more than a mile has also consumed four friends and the occasional family member, not to mention the Science Channel, which sent a film crew to Brookline recently to record some bits of telegenic destruction.

It started last year when Labrie, a Nashua native and 1992 Bishop Guertin graduate, saw a TV show about the national Punkin Chunkin contest. That Delaware event started 25 years ago as a gathering of folks who built catapults to toss pumpkins a few hundred feet, and is now a weekend-long extravaganza that attracts global media attention with a half-dozen categories of pumpkin-hurtling devices – including what might be considered the heavyweight division, air cannons. These massive machines, powered by huge tanks of compressed air, can fire pumpkins 4,000 feet or more...

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Reminder: There are 28 days until the 2nd Annual Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival. There you will have a chance to see American Chunker up close.

Countdown: 38 Days 'till 2nd VTPC Festival

2010-08-26T21:33:00.002-04:00

Pumpkin light, Pumpkin bright, soon the Pumpkins will take flight.

October 3rd will soon be here.

Time for everyone to start getting their brain cells focused on the important things in life. Like seeing how far you can hurl a pumpkin.

We know that American Chunker has been hard at work. Their latest video is a tour de force.

American Chunker Team Captain Brian Labrie said, "Collectively we all have a ton of time invested in this project - what started out as a part time winter project has now escalated into a full blown obsession for speed and distance."

Some Trebuchet Inspiration:

YouTube:
Golf ball trebuchet shoots 450 ft

YouTube:
FAW (Floating Axle Whipper) Trebuchet

Mad Splatter - The making of a trebuchet

Holy Smokes

2010-07-21T13:06:00.007-04:00

The American Chunker Air Cannon team has reported that their machine will have an automatic firing capability. That is amazing.

American Chunker:
THE FIRST EVER FULLY AUTOMATIC CHUNKER -- Coming soon..........Team American Chunker goes "Fully Automatic" Well ...close (15 round burst capable). The crew will soon unleash an absolutely unbelievable show of power. Shock and Awe would be considered an understatement! Stay tuned as this innovative group paves the way for the future of high powered air cannons. The US service rifle commonly know as the M-4 or M-16 shoots a 3 round burst, wait till you see this soon to be World Famous air cannon demonstrate what a 15 round burst looks like on an unsuspecting junk car! This is the first cannon to ever attempt this successfully. One of many firsts I suspect.

There are now only 74 Days, or 10 weeks and 4 days, until you get to see this amazing machine at the Second Annual Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival, on October 3, 2010.

Radio Interview: Talking & Singing about Trebuchets - The 2nd Annual Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival

2010-05-27T21:35:00.011-04:00

Dave Jordan was interviewed by Roland of WLVB, 93.9 FM, Morrisville, Vermont on Thursday May 27th. They talked about the upcoming 2nd annual Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival and the brand new Trebuchet Song was also played. The interview and the song was recorded for your listening pleasure:

Reminder: It's time to get those pumpkin seeds planted and the Trebuchet plans organized. There are now only 73 days until VTPC.

Countdown: 160 Days 'till 2nd VTPC Festival

2010-04-26T11:55:00.006-04:00

Today there are 73 days, remaining until our 2nd Annual Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival, which will be held on October 3rd, 2010.

The pumpkin chuckin' contest will be for trebuchets (4 categories) and one unlimited air cannon category.

Here is a brief round-up of some hurling news.

The American Chunker, New Hampshire's unlimited air cannon team, is in the process of putting the finishing touches on their monster. Some secret video of the beast in action has also been "leaked."

Can't wait to see this big bad beast up close and in action at our VTPC Festival.

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Some inspiration from the Catapult Message Board. DakarNick shows off his small Floating Arm Trebuchet (FAT) on YouTube:

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From Twitter we learn they're having a "Treb Day" in Lansing, Michigan on Saturday, May 8th.

MSU Engineering students team up with Lansing area 7th-12th graders that will be invloved in an 8 week workshop to learn the history, math, physics, and engineering of the Trebuchet. We will then have them team up to build 5, 8 ft Trebuchets that will be shot at targets at The Marshall St. Armory on May 8th.

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Ginormous American Chunker will be coming to 2nd VTPC Festival

2010-01-18T16:48:00.012-05:00

Great news! We have a huge (over 100 foot) air cannon signed up for this year's event on Oct 3rd, 2010! A team from New Hampshire (website: Americanchunker.com) is looking for some practice events before entering the world championships in Delaware in Nov. 2010. Their goal is to not only win the competition, but to crack the 1 mile mark, the holy grail of pumpkin chunkin!

We are delighted to have a "big boy" at our event and have created a separate category (Unlimited air cannon) so the trebuchets will not compete against the air cannons. The rules will be exactly the same at the world championships's. I believe they require a 8 to 10 pound pumpkin, with no wadding allowed.

related:
AMERICAN CHUNKER PRESS RELEASE.....NEW HAMPSHIRE EXCLUSIVE --

An innovative group of southern NH folks have designed and built this massive pumpkin launching device intended to shoot pumpkins over 1 mile. This crew knows pumpkins and they know how to make them sail. The huge air cannon has a barrel that is well over triple digits in feet and has a tank that hold hundreds of gallons of compressed air. The group has plans on traveling up and down the eastern seaboard this fall showing off their new state of the art air cannon. The cannon has multiple features never seen on any competition air cannon. Team Captain Brian Labrie says "This cannon is built for speed and comfort". Labrie a local NH business owner and cannon enthusist also stated "we will travel this fall and play around at some local events but when we get to Delaware it's showtime...we are there for one reason and that is to break the mile mark". Stay tuned as the April 1st unveiling draws near...

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A little math, a little science, the right ammo, and a very big truck...

Science Channel Covers Punkin Chunkin

2009-12-03T10:37:00.025-05:00

Did you watch the Science Channel's coverage of the 2009 World Championship Punkin Chunkin (WCPC) from Bridgeville, Delaware? They have two, one hour shows: Road To Punkin Chunkin and Punkin Chunkin 2009 devoted to the event. They have been airing the shows periodically since Thanksgiving. and will re-broadcast them occasionally. Check the Science Channel schedule. The Science Channel website also has info about pumpkin hurling, the official results, and mucho video from the the event (links below).

Science.Discovery.com:
Punkin Chunkin -- Zach Selwyn and Mike Senese host the 2009 Punkin' Chunkin' World Championships from Bridgeville, Delaware. 110 teams of backyard engineers will attempt to launch a pumpkin as far as possible and take home the title of the world's furthest chunk.

Science.Discovery.com:
2009 Punkin Chunkin Results -- Get the official results here, down to the foot!

Science.Discovery.com has posted over 24 video chips about the event: Punkin Chunkin 2009 Videos

In an interesting footnote, you'll hear Steve Seigars, owner of the Yankee Siege Trebuchet, current world champion and record holder in that class, say he's probably got the most inefficient hurling machine in the competition. They're only winning and able to go over 2000' because they are big in height and counterweight.

TheHurl.org discussed the Science Channel's coverage and also has a discussion regarding how the cost to enter the WCPC is going up.

Reminder:

Remember, there are only 303 days or 10 months until our next Vermont Punkin Chunkin' Festival on October 3, 2010. It's design time for next year's pumpkin hurling masterpiece.

Tip:
Check out these Youtube videos for a look at an innovative "F2K" trebuchet design.

2000 Foot Barrier Broken

2009-11-23T00:55:00.002-05:00

New England's own Yankee Siege, from Greenfield, New Hampshire, won for the sixth year in a row at the "Punkin Chunkin" World Championship. They are the first trebuchet to hurl a pumpkin over 2000 feet. Their world record throw on Saturday, November 7th, 2009, was 2034 feet.

In Steve Seigars' words:

Another Punkin Chunkin season has come and gone. I can't believe it's been 6 years of competition for Yankee Siege. I can't believe we pulled off another 1st place! Six straight years of wins, with no losses, its like a dream come true. And to top it off, to break the 2000 foot barrier. I am so proud of all the team members who worked so hard this year so that we could be the first treb in history to break the 2000 foot mark in competition. I would especially like to thank my wife Kathleen for putting up with me and this weird sport. We are the only members of the 2000 foot club, quite an exclusive club! This is one time that its nice to be lonely at the top!

The treb division this year was very impressive with nine machines throwing in excess of a thousand feet. The 2000 foot club will soon be crowded. I was particularly impressed with "new comer" American Chucker with their 1895 foot shot on Sunday 11/7/2009. With only 2200 pounds of counterweight and a ten foot drop that is 35% efficient! Very nice! This is a great machine and a great bunch of guys. Not bad for their first year in competition. They mentioned that they only tested 6 shots before the competition. Image what it will shoot with a little more tuning!!! Good luck! ...

Maybe we should retire. It's been a great run for the past 6 years with many fantastic memories. It will be hard to "top" this year with all the media attention and the 2000 foot throw. It might be best to leave while you are at the top of your game. To be continued...

Again, congratulations Yankee Siege. This is a inspiration for all pumpkin hurlers.

Good Luck Yankee Siege!

2009-10-29T11:17:00.006-04:00

The Yankee Siege trebuchet from Greenfield, New Hampshire is preparing for the 24th annual Punkin Chunkin World Championships in Bridgeville, Delaware. Good luck guys, hope you find the perfect pumpkin and nail that 2000 foot hurl!

Yankee Siege Blog:
Yankee Siege Tune-Up Report October 24, 2009 --

We are making a concentrated effort to tune and tweak Yankee Siege with the new throwing arm. We have decided to leave the counterweight alone with a fixed amount of weight (12,000 pounds).

The pumpkin will also remain a fixed weight of ten pounds...

Two Thousand Foot Holy Grail!!!

Can 2000 ' be broken for a trebuchet? Can 2500 ' be broken? Will the weather cooperate? Could all 3 of the "big three trebs" (Yankee Siege, Pumpkin Hammer & Merlin) break 2000 '? A throw of 2000 ' may only garner 3rd place! Will an unknown machine come and beat us all? That's the excitement of Punkin Chunkin. To get a good throw everything "has to go right"! To have a bad throw only one thing has to go wrong! How does one "make it happen"? How does a team make everything go right? How does a team prevent a mistake or breakage of the machine? What part does luck play? Do you make your own luck through practice, vigilance, hard work and experience?

We only have a little bit more than a week left. Yankee Siege sincerely wishes all the other trebs in the division the best of luck in the 24th Annual Punkin Chunkin competition. Hope the weather cooperates and the 2000 foot mark is blown away!

Steve Seigars, YS

First Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival was a Smashing Success

2009-10-04T22:35:00.031-04:00

Updated :

We raised over $1600 for the Lamoille Family Center! Great job guys!

Second Annual Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin Festival: Oct. 3rd, 2010 at Boyden Farm.

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photo by ShayTotten: "The big trebuchet lets one fly"

The weather, the pumpkin hurlers, and the music were all fantastic at our First Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival.

Many thanks to all the spectators and participants who came out to our First VTPC. Throwing this event together (pun intended) in 30 days without great people, like everyone of you who came out on short notice, would have been impossible.

Speaking of short notice, we've got the Boyden Farm reserved for next year, First Sunday in Oct., Oct 3rd, 2010 for the second Annual Pumpkin Chuckin Festival. So no excuses, you've got a year to get your trebuchet together. We are adding two divisions, Middleweight Open for adults that want to build a 100 pound trebuchet. The Middleweight Junior Division will be the same as before, limited to ages 17 and under. And also an Unlimited Division, no height or weight limiits, although it has to be a gravity-powered trebuchet, throwing at least a 10 pound pumpkin. We are also considering a theatrical division and an accuracy division, if people are interested.

We'd also like to thank the Boyden Family for being fantastic hosts, and another big thanks to all of our sponsors and bands.

Sponsors: Boyden Farm, Cambridge Area Rotary, Robot Optimizers, John Duffy, Stowe Soaring, Trattoria LaFesta, Miller Country Outfitters, Bee's Knees, Hanley's General Store, Cold Hollow Cider.

Bands: Wilbur's Dog, The Hubcats.

Here are the results of the First Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival:

Division: Heavyweight, Winner
Name of Trebuchet: The Thing
Representing: Morrisville/Montpelier, VT
Team members: Dave Barrows, Eric Griffin, & Chris Fish
distance: 139' 2" (scaled, same, 139')

Division: Heavyweight, 2nd Place
Name of Trebuchet: Moofasa
Representing: Enosburg Falls High School Physics
Adult advisor: Ryan Bushey
distance: 29' 9" (scaled, same 29')

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All Middleweight distances were scaled up by 1.71 representing the distance they would have thrown if their trebuchet were 10 feet tall.

Division: Middleweight, Winner**
Name of Trebuchet: T-Rex
Representing: Cambridge Vermont Boy Scout Troop 39
Adult advisor: Roger Allen
distance: 62' 6" (scaled distance 106')

Division: Middleweight, 2nd place**
Name of Trebuchet: Pumpkin Chuckin' Airlines
Representing/team members: The Wallace Family (Connecticut)
distance: 43' 6" (scaled distance 74')

**A clerical error first awarded the middleweight award to Pumpkin Chuckin' Airlines, however upon review T-Rex was determined to be the winner. Our apologies to both teams.

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All lightweight distances were scaled up by 2.92 to represent the distance they would have thrown if their trebuchet were 10 feet tall.

Division: Lightweight, Winner
Name of Trebuchet: unknown
Representing: Cambridge Vermont Cub Scout Pack 839
Adult advisor: Wayne Powell
distance: 42' 1" (scaled distance 123')

Division: Lightweight, 2nd place
Name of Trebuchet: The Rompenator
Representing: Cambridge Vermont Cub Scout Pack 839
Adult advisor: Mike Romp
distance: 26' 3" (scaled distance 76.65')

Division: Lightweight, Honorable Mention (crowd favorite)
Name of Trebuchet: Un-named
Representing / team members: Steve & Nancy Harmon

distance: 145" 1' (throwing a golf ball for show)

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Overall Winner Best Trebuchet, The Golden Pumpkin, based on scaled distance:
The Thing (Dave Barrows, Eric Griffin, & Chris Fish)

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Winner of Battle of the Bands:
Band name: Stonecutters (Rock) - Great show guys!

Notice that the lightweight trebuchet almost won the Grand Prize for Best Overall Trebuchet. Next year I expect that a small kid or team of kids will win the Grand Prize!

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News coverage of the event:

Channel 5 / WPTZ. com:
Vermont 'Pumpkin Chuckin' Event Rings In Fall -- Families, Boy Scout Troops Build Trebuchets To Compete ....

Vermonters welcomed the fall season Sunday with a brand-new contest...

J.J. Spanier made the biggest launcher in just a week with parts in his garage. His trebuchet was actually over the competition limit, so he just threw for fun, which was exactly why organizers put together the event....

One thing NewsChannel 5 heard frequently Sunday was people planning to start work on their own trebuchet since there was only a month's notice this time. Organizers said they already expect big things for next year's event.

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WPTZ. com (Channel 5) also showed a TV news report about the VTPC. Here is a still photo from the start of that report:

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WCAX -TV had this news report.

Darren Perron / WCAX News:
Pumpkin Chuckers Compete in Cambridge --

.... Some trebuchets worked better than others. A few misfires sent fruit flying backwards. And then, the real crowd pleaser. The monster of all trebuchets rolled in. Kids could hardly wait. Adults -- anxious too. And the launch did not disappoint -- a whopping 220 feet.

But the real winner here is the Lamoille Family Center. The Pumpkin Chucking Contest -- put on the by local rotary club -- was a benefit. Good fun for a good cause. Just keep your eye on the sky during this fundraiser -- and consider a helmet.

WCAX News also had a TV video of the event. Here are a couple of stills:

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smkvt has posted some great videos of the event:

And he took this picture:

Sudden Treb Death

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ShayTotten took this picture at the event:

And he also wrote this very positive review of VTPC (with more pictures) for Blurt, The Seven Days staff blog: Smashing Pumpkins the Vermont Way.

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A big thank-you again to everyone.

We hope to see you all again next year at an even bigger and better 2nd Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival to be held the first Sunday in October 2010 (on October 3rd, 2010).

Happy Hurling... until then

Announcement: First Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival & Contest

2009-09-03T10:47:00.095-04:00

Cambridge Area Rotary presents the first annual Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival

Updates: It's here. Happy hurling at the VTPC.

Good news! We now have a real battle in the Battle of the Bands, "Stonecutters", a local rock band out of the Morrisville area has just joined the battle. So far, it is "Honeybee" (soft rock) against "Stonecutters" (rock) squaring off around 11:30am. We've love to have more bands enter. Only $5 gets you into the battle and all the Pumpkin Chuckin events! Walkons welcome!

The featured bands, "Wilbur's Dog" and the "Hubcats" will be playing in the afternoon.

Also we just got another entry in the heavyweight division bringing out total to three heavyweight trebuchets!

Exciting news! We have a local genius James Spanier who built a huge trebuchet for the "Throw for Show" category and also a local 2 family contingent building a slingshot for the same division. I can hardly wait to see them in action!

Timing: I've moved the schedule up a little (check schedule below) to accomodate people who might want to get home early on a Sunday night. Battle of the Bands starts at 11:30 and first round of competition starts at 12:30, with the last round and free-for-all around 3:00pm.

Vision: We want to hold a fun trebuchet (rhymes with yesterday) hurling contest to raise money for the Lamoille Family Center in Morrisville, VT. The competitive hurling is limited to 4 main divisions. Each division will compete on distance.

Other trebuchets, or catapults, or air cannons are encouraged to come and "throw for show" along with the other contestants, but if they do not meet the division specs., they will not be part of the official competition.

Bantamweight Division: Age 10 and below
Max. total weight of trebuchet is 4 lbs.
Max height = 24"
Projectile = 3/5 ounce (or 16.8 grams)

Lightweight Division: Age 10 and below
Max. total weight of trebuchet is 20 lbs.
Max height = 41"
projectile = 3 ounce tomato

Middleweight Division: Age 17 and below
Max. total weight of trebuchet is 100 lbs.
Max. height = 70"
projectile = 1 pound pumpkin

Heavyweight Division: Open to all ages
Max. total weight of trebuchet is 500 lbs.
Max. height is 10 feet
projectile = 5 pound pumpkin

To sign up for the trebuchet contest: Contact Dave Jordan via email or phone (below). Cost is $5. The entry allows only the captain to get in free. All others on the team pay $5, or $3, if they are 18 or under. All competitors and team members will sign a waiver provided the day of the competition.

To enter send a check or cash to:

Dave Jordan
161 Henway Road
Morrisville, VT 05661

Please include:

Name of captain
Team members (up to 8)
Representing (school, cub scouts, boy scouts, girl scouts, university, etc) (Optional)
Division (bantamweight, lightweight, middleweight, heavyweight)
Name of your Trebuchet (optional)
Email (optional)
Phone number (optional)

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Plus Music and Battle of the Bands:

Also associated with the contest will be music provided by three local bands and a separate, earlier Battle of the Bands contest. Winner of the Battle of the Bands will be selected by the two judges from the "Hubcats". This Battle is sponsored by the Bee's Knees in Morrisville so the first prize will be a $45 gift certificate to the Bee's Knees. Limited to first 10 bands that sign up. Time slots will be awarded in reverse order to when entry is received. The first band gets the latest time slot (12:10 to 12:30pm) and so on.

To sign up for battle of the bands: Contact Dave Jordan via email or phone below. Cost is $5. The entry allows one person in the band in for free. All others pay $5 or $3 if they are 18 or under.

Bands must bring their own drums. An eight channel PA will be provided with a sound man (Mike Dunn, of Wilbur's Dog). If you have any questions regarding sound equipment, please contact Mike directly at TragicallyMike@gmail.com

To enter send check or cash to:

Dave Jordan
161 Henway Road
Morrisville, VT 05661

Please Include:

Main contact
Band name
Type of music (optional)
Email (optional)
phone number (optional)

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Music will be provided by:

Wilbur's Dog (progressive rock) - 3:00pm to dark
Hubcats (bluegrass/folk) - 2:00pm

Hurling goes on rain or shine. Music will be under a pavillion.

Other Activities:

Play against Boomer the amazing tennis robot (see tennisrobot.com)
Volleyball
Vegetable slinging: Slingers provided! Just for fun, distance and hitting targets, if enough interest we may add another category for slinging.
Corn maze: Small fee ($5 for adults, $3 for kids, free for under 2)
Horseshoes
Croquet (if we can find someone with a set)
Bocce ball (if we can find someone with a set)
Food provided by local vendors
Picnic: People are welcome to bring their own picnic

Family friendly event! NO alcohol or BYOB on farm property!

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Cost:

$5 for adults
$3 for ages 18 and under

Location:

Boyden Farm
44 Vermont Route 104
Cambridge, VT 05444

Time:

Sunday, Oct. 4th, 2009, 11:30am to dark

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Who can participate in the Pumpkin Chuckin' Contest?

Open to anyone to compete. One person or a team of up to 8 people. We are hoping to get kids of all ages, cub scouts, boy scouts, brownies, girl scouts, universities, companies, etc.

In the bantamweight, lightweight and middleweight divisions, older people may suggest ideas but the trebuchet must be built by the team or individual.

Similar to the Soap Box Derby; moms and dads can help with suggestions, but not actually work on the trebuchet.

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Schedule of activities on Sunday, October 4th:
(These are approximate times. This is contingent upon the number of entries in the trebuchet contest and Battle of the Bands. If there are a small number of competitors, times will be moved up)

9am to 12:30pm: Assembly, safety inspection, weighing, measuring, testing and tweaking of trebuchets
11:30am to 12:30pm: Battle of the Bands (only 2 bands so far, this time could change)
12:30pm: Round one: First shot of trebuchets
1:30pm: Round two: Second shot of trebuchets
2:00pm: Hubcats (bluegrass/folk)
2:30: Round three: Third shot of trebuchets
3pm to dusk: Awards followed by free-for-all hurling, cleanup and music by Wilbur's Dog (progressive rock)

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SAFETY: All trebuchets must have a safety device (like a C-clamp) to stop the throwing arm from firing prematurely during loading of the projectile. Another excellent safety device is a support which can be placed directly under the counterweight, preventing it from falling.

Once the counterweight is lifted, the trebuchet is dangerous (even the small ones). Be careful not to put hands, feet or any body part in the potential path of the throwing arm or counterweight. Put the safety on immediately after the counterweight is lifted (before loading the sling, etc)!

All trebuchets will be inspected before firing and must pass the inspection to fire.

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Rules:
Total weight of trebuchet including counterweight (not including projectile) may not exceed limit. See table above for weight limits for 4 divisions.

Height of trebuchet including throwing arm fully extended (the un-cocked height, straight up in the air) may not exceed limit. The sling is not included in the height limit, so the sling may exceed the limit.

No digging into the ground is allowed (like a pit for the counterweight to fall further). You may use the ground to stake the trebuchet to prevent rocking.

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BYOP: Bring your own pumpkin (or tomato, or whatever you want to hurl). We may have some rotten vegetables donated or for sale on site, but there is no guarantee. We suggest you have 3 prime pumpkins at exactly the right weight for the contest, and several other for practice and free-for-all at the end. Water balloons are an easy projectile. Be sure the projectile is AT LEAST the required weight.

Projectile must weigh at least the limit or more. Bantamweight = 3/5 ounces, Lightweight = 3 ounces, Middleweight = 1 pound, Heavyweight = 5 pounds.

Judges will weigh trebuchet and projectile and measure height before firing. Total weight of the trebuchet (including counterweight) must be UNDER the limit. Weight of projectile must be OVER the limit. Height must be UNDER the limit. No part of the trebuchet may go over the limit during firing, except the sling.

Competition: The competition is similar to a shotput where all the contestants fire their weapon, one at a time, each is spotted for distance from the center of the front of the trebuchet. The bantamweight competitors will be scaled up by 5, lightweight competitors will be scaled up by 2.93 to reflect the distance they would throw if they were 10 feet tall. The middleweight competitors will be scaled up by 1.71. We plan to announce the name, weight, height of each trebuchet and team members before asking them, "Ladies and Gentlemen, please fire your weapon!"

Just to be clear, the distance is measured from the center of the front of the trebuchet.

There will be 3 rounds with a pause (roughly 30 minutes) between rounds for tweaking, etc. At the end of the third shot, we will announce the awards, then start the free-for-all hurling for fun.

Reason for limits: The weight and size of the trebuchet is limited (given the short time to the festival) to allow teams to more easily assemble and transport their trebuchets to the contest.

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Scaling: Trebuchets "scale" very well. All things being equal, a trebuchet that is twice as big will throw twice as far. However, it will weight 8 times more and throw a projectile that weighs eights times more. The reason is that something twice as big, is twice as wide and twice as deep so the volume and weight increase by a factor of eight.

With this in mind, each division is 5 times heavier than the division below it. Doing the math, this scales to 1.71 taller (cube root of 5). So each division is 1.71 times taller than the division below it so they can be compared against each other to award an overall "Best Design" prize. The bantamweight division will be multiplied by 5.000. The lightweight division distance will be multiplied by 2.924 and the middleweight division will be multiplied by 1.71 to accurately compare against the heavyweight division. For example, if a lightweight trebuchet throws 50 feet and a heavyweight trebuchet throws 145 feet, the lightweight trebuchet is scaled up to 146 (50*2.924) feet which beats the heavyweight trebuchet. This scaling will be used to award the overall "Best Design" prize. Each division will also have a best distance prize.

This gives a young kid a real chance to walk off with the most prestigious prize, no fancy metal working or wood working shop required, just brains and persistence.

Loading must be done totally with human power, no electrical or other assistance.

All trebuchets must be only gravity powered. No springs or pneumatics or other power sources.

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Contest entry fees:

$5 for entry. Spectators and contestants and Battle of the Bands contestants all pay the same.
$3 for age 18 and under

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Order of Prizes:

All winners will also receive a "Golden Pumpkin"

Overall Best Design = 1st pick of prizes donated by local sponsors
Bantamweight division (distance) = 2nd pick of prizes donated by local sponsors
Lightweight division (distance) = 3rd pick of prizes donated by local sponsors
Middleweight division (distance) = 4th pick of prizes donated by local sponsors
Heavyweight division (distance) = 5th pick of prizes donated by local sponsors
Best Pumpkin Chuckin Band = $45 gift certificate to Bee's Knees

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Current list of prizes:

Glider ride for 2 by Stowe Soaring
Dinner for 2 by Trattoria La Festa in Stowe
$45 gift certificate at Bee's Knees in Morrisville (for winner of Battle of Bands)
Burton gear
Miller's Country Outfitters gear
Gift certificates from Hanley General Store in Jeffersonville
5 lb of Neptune Harvest from Charlie at Brookfield Ag in Northfield

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Remaining fees and donations (after expenses) goes to Lamoille Family Center.

Current Sponsors: Boyden Farm, Wilbur's Dog, Robot Optimizers, Hubcats, Trattoria La Festa, Foote Brook Farm, The Stowe UPS Store, Bee's Knees, Cold Hollow Cider Mill, Hanley General Store, Brookfield Agriculture.

We are also looking for other sponsors to offer prizes and rotten (or otherwise) vegetables for hurling.

Contact: Dave Jordan (802) 888-2910
e-mail: djordan@gmavt.net

Current list of entries.

A Brief History of Pumpkin Chuckin'

2009-09-03T10:38:00.000-04:00

The World Championship Punkin Chunkin Contest & Festival is held each year in Sussex County, Delaware and involves 17 categories of catapults, a beauty contest, road races, carnival and lots of music. The first one was in 1986.

Other states hold their own Pumpkin Chuckin' contests. Ludlow, Vermont holds a Zukapult contest to fling zuccinni. As far as we know, this would be the first (and long overdue) Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Contest.

reference:
see Wikipedia: Pumpkin Chunking

What is a Trebuchet?

2009-09-03T10:35:00.001-04:00

A trebuchet is an ancient siege engine used to overpower a castle in medieval times. It was the nuclear weapon of its day from the 4th century to the 14th century. It is a huge, gravity powered catapult with a sling attached used to fling boulders, cows, or people into and at the castle.

In modern times they are used to hurl pumpkins for distance and accuracy.

How to Build A Trebuchet

2009-09-03T10:32:00.004-04:00

For instructions on how to build a trebuchet and more details see trebuchet.com or any number of websites dealing with trebuchets and pumpkin chuckin' contests.

For example, here are plans for a tennis ball trebuchet. This is a 30 inch (axle height) Trebuchet and it is a working model suitable for learning the fundamentals of Hinged Counter Weight Trebuchet. The base is 34 inches long and 31 inches wide, making it suitable for many projects that are restricted to 1 meter dimensions.

Tennis Ball Trebuchet

related:
Axles and Counter Weights (CW's)

Here is information about:

FAT/F2K Trigger, the basic concept.
Phssthpok's Rule, concerning how much CW to use.
Parachutes to avoid head dings.
Wheels and Trebuchets.
Bracing an Axle.
Pouch Roll, why sling anchor position is important.
Taught Line Hitch

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Here are some do-it-yourself projects from instructables.com on how to build a Trebuchet.

Trebuchet of the large variety (a work in progress)

Lego Trebuchet

the knex trebuchet

The Paper Trebuchet

Toco's knex trebuchet

Wooden Desktop Trebuchet

Desktop trebuchet from bicycle frame

Quick-n-Dirty Trebuchet

How to Make a Medieval Trebuchet Out of Cardboard

Motivation for the VT Pumpkin Chuckin' Contest

2009-09-03T09:57:00.002-04:00

Founders on for trebuchet contest: I saw a trebuchet off exit 9 on I-89 at Middlesex Farm. I asked them about it and they said they planned to have a little fun at the end of the season and a local store saw them and wanted to build their own trebuchet to compete. I started thinking wouldn't it be fun to make my own trebuchet and compete as well. Then I thought it would be more fun to have a big contest with all different sizes of machines.

The trebuchet is a very simple, elegant device. It is just a lopsided teeter-totter with a fat kid (I'm not fat, I'm big boned!) on the short end and a pumpkin on the long end. The fat kid sits down and the pumpkin goes flying. Despite being a simple device, it is far from simple to perfect. There are at least 5 critical items that can be tweaked and many designs to be tried.

My hope is that good sportsmanship will be what this competition is all about. It isn't about who has the best trebuchet; it is about the beauty of the hurl itself, and the ability of design to let us surpass our physical limitations and make that pumpkin fly.

To throw is great, to hurl divine.

That would make a great t-shirt.

List of Entries in the Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival

2009-09-03T09:38:00.012-04:00

Current list of trebuchets entered in tournament:

1. Captain: Dave Jordan
Team members: Melissa Jordan
Representing: Robot Optimizers Incorporated
Division: Heavyweight
Name of Trebuchet: Bad Boomer

2. Captain: Michael Wallace
Team members: Wallace family
Representing: Connecticut
Division: Middleweight
Name of Trebuchet: Pumpkin Chuckin Airlines
Adult advisor(s): Bruce Wallace, Joyce Wallace

3. Captain: Rogers family
Team members: unknown
Representing: Jeffersonville, VT
Division: Throw for show
Name of Slingshot: Unknown
Adult advisor: Annie

4. Captain: Roger Allen
Team members: Troop 39 Boy Scouts
Representing: Troop 39 Boy Scouts
Division: Middleweight
Name of trebuchet: T-Rex
Adult Advisor: Roger Allen

5. Representing: Enosburg Falls High School Physics
Division: Heavyweight
Name of Trebuchet: Moofasa
Adult advisor: Ryan Bushey

6. Captain: Unknown
Team members: Unknown
Representing: Cub Scout Troop #839 of Cambridge
Division: Lightweight
Name of Trebuchet: Giantslayer
Adult Advisor: Tom Cook

7. Captain: Dave Barrows
Team members: Unknown
Representing: Morrisville/Stowe
Name of Trebuchet: Unknown

8. Captain: James Spanier
Team members: Unknown
Representing: Cambridge?
Name of Trebuchet: Unknown (May I suggest the Spanier Slinger?)

Current list of bands entered in battle-of-bands tournament: (Time slots are awarded in reverse order to when entry is received, the earlier the band enters, the later it plays)

1. Main contact: Dave Jordan
Band name: Honeybee
Type of music: soft rock
Time slot: 12:10 to 12:30

2. Main contact: Ian Robertson
Band name: Stonecutters
Type of music: Rock
Time slot: 11:30 to 12:10