The Trebuchet missile from Freespace 2.
Posted on 11/08/2004 6:33:29 AM PST by SussexCountyDE
Sussex Smashers Reclaim Trophy
By Glenn Rolfe, The Leader & State Register
HARBESON, DE - Pumpkins propelled by a variety of home-brewed artillery smashed to Earth in a Sussex County field Sunday in the closing chapter of the 2004 World Championship Punkin Chunkin.
Overall, bragging rights for the greatest distance - and the prestigious World Championship Punkin Chunkin trophy - went to Old Glory, an air-powered cannon with Sussex roots in Georgetown and Milton.
With an able-bodied crew and owner Joe "Wolfman" Thomas of Georgetown at the helm, Old Glory's one-shot distance of 4,224 feet on Saturday withstood all challenges and stood as the best shot of the more than 90 entries in the three-day event.
The victory enabled Old Glory to regain the title it claimed in 2000 and 2001, taking the crown backfrom Second Amendment, a Michigan cannon that won in 2002 and 2003.
"Just get that pumpkin out there," said Mr. Thomas of his team's strategy. "The crew did their job. They are all good crew members."
Other teams also had good showings. Two days after setting a world record in the Adult Trebuchet class on Friday, a machine named Yankee Siege set another record on Sunday.
The gravity-fed entry from Greenfield, N.H., blasted a pumpkin 1,394.29 feet, bettering its Friday mark of 1,362 feet and ending the reign of King Arthur, a four-time and defending trebuchet champ from Leesburg, Va.
"We came in here to do it. Maybe it's just beginner's luck," said Yankee Siege owner Steve Seigars. "To be able to do this, everybody had a job to do and everybody did their job just perfectly. I can't say more about the team itself."
Mr. Seigars all but guaranteed Yankee Siege would likely be back next year.
"It's kind of addicting. It's kind of hard not to come back and defend your title," he said. "It's like the America's Cup, you get to keep it for the year, and then you've got to give it up unless you compete and win."
Chris Gerow, owner of the third-place King Arthur entry, was gracious in relinquishing the title and vowed to do his best to reclaim the fame.
"I'm going to try like heck," said Mr. Gerow, adding there's more to Punkin Chunkin than just winning and losing.
"You have a chance to essentially design anything you want, and you have a chance to engineer and build it," he said. "And then you have a chance to see whether your design is doing better or worse than somebody else. I can't think of anything else like it. All you get is a trophy and, of course, bragging rights for a year."
Crew members for Sir Chunks A Lot, a catapult entry from New Jersey, were tickled with fourth place. Their best shot this year was 1,459 feet, up from 1,021 feet last year and following efforts of 247 and 46 feet the previous two years, albeit with a different catapult machine.
"We're getting better. Next year, we'll be first place," chuckled Dean Ustaszewski of Marlton, N.J. "It's fun. It gives us a chance to think up new ideas and implement them. We take it out in the field at home and test it there and throw all kinds of things - bowling balls. They make really nice craters when they hit."
Nick Ustaszewski, another Sir Chunks A Lot crew member, said "there is a certain satisfaction out of building something and seeing how well you can do, compared to everybody else. Plus, it's nice to come here and see the ingenuity of all of the other people. That fascinates me to no end."
Virginia Smith and her 9-year-old daughter Fallyn Smith were among the thousands of spectators. This was their first Punkin Chunkin, having moved to Milton from New York state two years ago.
"We were invited down here by our friends. They are locals here. This is our first time and it's been fantastic. We really enjoyed the big guns," said Ms. Smith.
Fallyn thought pumpkins exploding when they fell to Earth was cool. Her favorite air cannon was Fire & Ice, which placed third behind Old Glory and Second Amendment.
"I like Fire & Ice. But they didn't have a good day," Fallyn said.
Frank Shade, president of the World Championship Punkin Chunkin Association, said spectator turnout was comparable to last year, particularly on Saturday. Last year's estimated total attendance was 33,000.
More than 90 of the 100 entries competed.
"Sometimes people can't make it for mechanical reasons or whatever," Mr. Shade said.
Mr. Gerow spoke about the friendships created in the competition. He said he had dinner with Mr. Seigars, skipper of Yankee Siege, and another competitor in his division Saturday night in Rehoboth Beach.
"The people here are just absolutely amazing," Mr. Gerow said. "And if anybody breaks down, everybody is there to help you. It's a fraternal organization, it really is."
The final day of the 19th annual Punkin Chunkin featured an announcement from Mr. Shade concerning the possibility that the 2005 event could be staged at the 285-acre farmland site between Harbeson and Millsboro where it has been based the past seven or eight years.
An impending ownership change of that property is expected to include development, which has forced Punkin Chunkin organizers to search for a new home, Mr. Shade said.
"We have opened negotiations with the people who are potentially buying the field that we are on. They have tentatively agreed to talk with us about being there next year," said Mr. Shade. "They don't believe that their building plans will interfere with us being on that field for one more year, which gives us a bit of a reprieve to continue to look for land."
Mr. Shade emphasized that there is no guarantee at this time. "But it gives us someone to talk to," he said. "We're only talking to them about the possibility of using it one more while we continue to search for a new home. This is only a short reprieve while we continue to look for a home. By no means is it a solution to a problem. It's just an extension of time."
The current location is the third Sussex County home in the 19-year history on Punkin Chunkin, which began in 1986. It started on farm property off U.S. 9, then moved to a bigger location off Del. 1 before moving to its present home.
Meanwhile, the search for a permanent home, hopefully in Sussex County, continues.
"We're currently negotiating with state and local government agencies and some landowners trying to come up with a new home," Mr. Shade said. "It was born here and raised here and we want it to stay here."
The Leader & State Register News Editor Glenn Rolfe can be reached at 629-5505 or grolfe@newszap.com.
I can't figure out how the catapult slung a pumpkin over a thousand feet.
Go here for all the details.
http://www.punkinchunkin.com/
It's a Monty Python thing......The flight physics of African and European Swallows. Then there's Harold the flying sheep. Well, he's really not flying yet, but we're watching him closely for when he does. The commercial possibilities are numerous.
Google up "trebuchet", and you'll start to understand. The acceleration is actually fairly gentle, but sustained. Trebuchets were the heavy artillery of medieval Europe.
Ten year old boys make a potato gun from old soup cans and duct tape. Twenty year old boys are no different. They just have better resources to work with. By the time you're fifty, we're talking serious childhood munitions!
I loved the scenes from the recent Joan of Arc flick. The trebuchet scenes were sooooooo fantastic. I really enjoyed some of those scenes. Pretty accurate too. I loved the way the guy in charge of the launch would chisel and get stones down to an exact weight in order to get them just right.
Did you see the Lord of the Rings ? Third movie, siege combat scenes. Those HUGE rock throwers that the humans had in Minas Tirith ? They are different than the catapults the orcs had. Those devices are trebuchets.
Hmmm.
Overall, bragging rights for the greatest distance - and the prestigious World Championship Punkin Chunkin trophy - went to Old Glory, an air-powered cannon with Sussex roots in Georgetown and Milton.
After watching 60 Minutes' piece on Burt Rutan last night, I want them to do the ultimate:
Be the first to put a pumpkin into orbit.
Is Manitou still hippy haven?
HMS Ark Royal (the one that was paid off in the 1970s) launched the captain's old car and the wardroom piano...
no doubt akin to Tony the carnivorous pony
I have $75 bucks for the first private spaceflight to accomplish the task
My brother and I are going to built a bait cannon for shooting a 6.oz weight/hook rig with squid or finger mullet attached 200-300 yards into the surf.
The initial ranging should pretty funny.
That's one of the few computer games I play. LOVE IT
Some people have way too much time on their hands...
You wouldn't believe my joy when I learned that it DOES work on Windows XP.
Now that's what I call "Smashing Pumpkins."
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