Countdown: 38 Days 'till 2nd VTPC Festival

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

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

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

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:

• Walkaround unloaded
• Walkaround loaded
• Firing

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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

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

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

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!

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