Friday, September 14, 2012

Countdown to 4th VT Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival

There are only 22 days until the 4th Annual Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival on Sunday, October 7th, at the Boyden Family Farm in Cambridge, VT.  A few notes:

Here is the press release for this year's festival.

Travel New England has included the VTPC Festival on its list of Vermont 2012 Fall Festivals, Harvest Festivals, Apple Festivals and More.

Miss Vermont, Chelsea Ingram, who will be singing the National Anthem at our festival on Oct. 7th, reports on her various activities around Vermont on her facebook page.

Chelsea Ingram, Miss Vermont 2012, will sing anthem at VT Pumpkin Chuckin'
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Delaware has put their Punkin Chunkin event on their "Delaware Bucket List." If you are a Vermonter it is your Green Mountain duty to put, going to the Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival, on yours.

Put Pumpkin hurling on your bucket list!
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Pumpkin People
Pumpkin People are always de-vine
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New Trebuchet World Record, and a New Holy Grail...

Pompoenschieten Bikschote - European Pumpkin Catapulting Contest

Big News from the European Pumpkin Catapulting Contest:
September 3, 2012 -- SiegeMasters is proud to announce the establishment of a new World Record for a Gravity powered Trebuchet with a 10-Lb pumpkin.

Dateline Sunday, September 02, 2012
Bikschote, West Flanders, Belgium

Today, the giant Whipper type Trebuchet known as Excalibur threw a 10-Lb pumpkin for a distance of 763.3 meters (2,504.33 feet), which exceeds last years WCPC Adult Trebuchet winner by 177.66 feet.

The World Championship of Punkin Chunkin is held in Delaware, USA the first weekend in November and will determine if this new record will stand.

Until then, Our most hearty congratulations.
The final world record distance was amended slightly to 2504.26509 feet. This is 177.665 feet better than the US/World Championship Punkin Chunkin, WCPC record of 2,326.60 feet set in 2011, by the Yankee Siege II team in the Adult Trebuchet Class.

Yankee Siege 2 at 2011 WCPC
Yankee Siege 2, November 10, 2011

via Craig Simmons, who has a great collection of trebuchet photos.
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Here is a slow motion test firing of Excalibur (the new record holder) from 2010:


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If you are interested in serious trebuchet engineering checkout Craig Simmons full facebook page. He builds traditional, modern and experimental trebuchets in his spare time.

Trebuchet Workshop
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Emperor Twang - Whipper trebuchet by Craig Simmons
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Finally, here is a great pumpkin hurling contest for kids out on Long Island, New York. The Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County Pumpkin Fling:


These kids are building some serious trebuchets. This year's Pumpkin Fling will be held on Saturday, October 27th, 2012, at the Suffolk County Farm in Yaphank, NY.