WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP PUNKIN' CHUNKIN' FROM LEWES, DELEWARE!

The World Championship Punkin Chunkin Association (WCPCA) is a trademark nonprofit that raises money for scholarships, as well as organizations that benefit youth and the local community. We host a signature pumpkin-launching event each year, fueling innovative engineering and science-based ideas that draw spectators from all over. We believe that Punkin Chunkin cultivates the odd, challenging, and competitive quest for distance that inspires creativity, ingenuity, teamwork, and passion. It is this very dedication that drives teams to compete using science and engineering skills and brings spectators to the gate which allows us to continue our never ending thirst to support our scholarship and charitable programs.


History

Punkin Chunkin Founders Honored at Ceremony

    Members of the Punkin’ Chunkin’ Association, sponsors of the annual World Championship Punkin’ Chunkin’ event honored four men this year considered the founding fathers of what has become a nationally recognized event.
   Wayne Sennett, a punkin’ chunker and member of the association, presented plaques to John Ellsworth and Trey Melson in Ellsworth’s Preservation Forge blacksmiths shop. Sennett presented a plaque to Bill Thompson during the awards banquet held last week. Arrangements are being made to get Donald “Doc” Pepper’s plaque to him.

Donald (Doc) Pepper “It all started back in 1986,” said Ellsworth. “We were playing around one day and somebody started talking about throwing pumpkins. There had been an article in a newspaper or on television about some people throwing pumpkins at Salisbury State. A physics class or something. One of us said that they could throw further than someone else and I threw my hat on the ground.”
“No one had any gloves” said Melson.
“Anyway,” said Ellsworth, “Trey and Bill both stomped on my hat and that kind of threw the gauntlet down. I can’t remember who won that first year.”
“Yes you can,” said Melson.
“Oh yeah. You whupped up on everybody.”
   (The longest shot that year - in a small field in a woods owned by Thompson near Georgetown - was 126’. Wolfman Joe Thomas’ winning shot this year went more than 3,000 feet into the wind.)
   Ellsworth remembers that Melson’s bow with a catapult arm broke all day long. “It broke on every throw and every time it broke, the pumpkin went further.”
Melson said he was “tickled to death” and surprised at receiving the plaque. “I’m glad that people are recognizing who was involved.” Ellsworth said that he was “highly honored.”
   This years event drew more than 20,000 people and grossed more than $100,000 in ticket sales and associated revenues. A total of 72 teams competed. Sennett said that more than $70,000 of that will be distributed in scholarships to a variety of community organizations.
   “We’re particularly proud that this year’s event was organized by an all volunteer committee,” said Sennett. “We’re presenting these plaques on behalf of every man, woman or child who ever threw, tossed, catapulted or smashed a pumpkin, with our wholehearted thanks, gratitude and great respect.”

   Pumpkin Chunking (also called Punkin' Chunkin', Pumpkin Chunkin', and Pumpkin Chucking) is the sport of hurling a pumpkin by mechanical means for distance. The devices used include slingshots, catapults, centrifugals, trebuchets, and pneumatic air cannons.
   A pneumatic air cannon named 'Big 10 Inch' holds the current world record by firing a pumpkin 5,545.43 feet (1,690.247 meters).   The world record shot took place September 9, 2010 in Moab, Utah. The shot received certification from Guinness World Records in early January, 2011.  Pumpkin chunking competitions, formal and informal, exist throughout the United States in the autumn, and often occur when pumpkins are harvested.  World Championship Punkin Chunkin, held in Delaware, is the oldest and largest annual competition. The event began in 1986 and featured over 100 teams in 2010. A European Championship is held in Bikschote, Belgium, and has been held there each year since 2004.
   The range achieved by devices greatly depends on their mass, shape, and size; the yield limits, stiffness, pitch, and elevation of the hurler; and the weather. The pumpkin is another important variable since sabots are often prohibited in competitions. The most common pumpkin varieties used are Caspers, Luminas, and La Estrellas - these varieties typically have thicker rinds and can better withstand the forces of launch. A usual rule is that the pumpkin must remain whole after leaving the device for the chunk to count. Pumpkins that burst after leaving the barrel are referred to as "pie" (short for "pumpkin pie in the sky").

World Championship Punkin Chunkin

   World Championship Punkin Chunkin (WCPC) is the name of an annual pumpkin chunkin contest held the first full weekend after Halloween in Sussex County, Delaware. It is governed by the World Championship Punkin Chunkin Association (WCPCA).
   Teams compete in the following divisions: Air Cannon, Female Air Cannon, Centrifugal, Catapult, Torsion, Trebuchet, Human Powered, Youth Air Cannon, Youth Catapult, Youth Trebuchet, Youth Human Powered, Youth 10 & Under, and Theatrical. Each division competes strictly for distance except for the Theatrical division which relies on a fan vote. The teams get three shots, one taken on each of three consecutive days. Only the teams farthest shot is scored for official results. Spotters riding on ATVs find the impact point, and then a professional surveyor calculates the distance based on GPS coordinates of the impact and the machine. The impact point is marked with color coded spray paint to avoid confusion with future shots.
   For the entertainment of spectators, the event also features amusement rides, food vendors, fireworks, live concerts, a pumpkin cooking contest, a chili cook-off, the Miss Punkin Chunkin pageant, et al.

The championship trophy

   Safety has remained the number one priority of the WCPCA. The sole fatality was a duck hit by a pumpkin that had been shot out of an air cannon.
   The event originated in 1986. One of the event's early locations was in Lewes just off of DE Rte 1 - at the end of the field was a church that was thought to be out of reach. Due to increasing space requirements (distance of shots, number of teams, and number of spectators) the field was moved elsewhere in Sussex County.
    In 2006, the first ever UK team, "The Scrapheap All-Stars" took part in the Centrifugal class representing UK TV show, Scrapheap Challenge where they finished 2nd.  This was the first time the "World Championships" featured international competition.
   In 2007, WCPC moved to its current location in Bridgeville, near the intersection of Seashore Highway (DE Rte 404) and Chaplains Chapel Road. About 75 teams competed, the event drew more than 20,000 people, and grossed more than $100,000 in ticket sales and associated revenues. More than 70% of that money will be donated to a variety of community organizations.

 Science Channel Coverage

   The Science Channel currently owns the television broadcast rights to the WCPC contest. After the 2010 event the WCPCA and the Science Channel agreed to a new, 3-year contract that runs through the 2013 WCPC. In 2009 and 2010 the "Punkin Chunkin" special aired on tape delay on Thanksgiving Day. Each year of coverage thus far has featured an hour long special titled "Road to the Chunk" that preceded coverage of the WCPC event. The previous year's contest is shown around Halloween and sporadically throughout the year. Road to Punkin Chunkin 2011 will feature at least three 30-minute episodes (airing November 3, 10, and 17).

Some of the big chunkin guns

In 2002, the Discovery Channel aired the initial Punkin Chunkin special and it was hosted by Bryan Callen.

In 2008, after a six year hiatus, Punkin Chunkin returned to cable television on the Science channel. Brad Sherwood hosted the one-hour program.

In 2009, Science channel expanded the coverage to two episodes (the first hour, a lead-up to the event; the second hour being coverage from the competition). This was hosted by Catch It Keep It hosts Zach Selwyn and Mike Senese.

In 2010, MythBusters hosts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman covered the event. The coverage was simulcast on the Discovery Channel. The special earned the Science Channel its highest rating in the network's history (topping the previous year's coverage).

In 2011, MythBusters hosts Kari Byron, Grant Imahara, and Tory Belleci will cover the events.

World Championship Punkin Chunkin Champions

Year	Team Name	Distance (feet)
2010	Hormone Blaster	3,755.65
2009	Big 10 Inch	4,162.65
2008	Young Glory III	4,483.51
2007	Big 10 Inch	4,211.27
2006	2nd Amendment	3,870.50
2005	2nd Amendment	4,331
2004	Old Glory	4,224
2003	2nd Amendment	4,434
2002	2nd Amendment	3,881
2001	Old Glory	3,911
2000	Old Glory	4,086
1999	Big 10 Inch	3,695
1998	Q36	4,026
1997	Universal Soldier	3,718
1996	Q 36	2,710
1995	Mello Yellow	2,655
1994	Universal Soldier	2,508
1993	Under Pressure	1,204
1992	De Terminator	852
1991	Ultimate Warrior	776
1990	Ultimate Warrior	775
1989	John Ellsworth	612
1988	Melson - Thompson	600
1987	Melson - Thompson	300
1986	Melson - Thompson	178

 

 

The crowd at the punkin chunkin

 

World Championship Punkin Chunkin Records

As of November 2011^[update], the world records to have been established at the Punkin Chunkin event were:

Machine Class	Team Name	Distance (feet)	Year
Adult Air	Young Glory III	4,483.51	2008
Adult Female Air	Let's Bounce	3,998.83	2008
Adult Centrifugal	Bad To The Bone	2,737.69	2006
Adult Catapult	Fibonacci Unlimited II	2,862.28	2005
Adult Trebuchet	Yankee Siege	2,034.21	2009
Adult Human Powered	Pumpkin Slayer	1,984.37	2009
Adult Torsion	Chucky II	3,091.58	2008
Adult Centrifugal Human Powered	M2S2 Spinumpkin	229.59	2005
Youth Air	Young Glory III	3,945.28	2003
Youth Catapult	Little Feats	1,232.94	2005
Youth Trebuchet	Sanford Slinger	852.34	2009
Youth Human Powered	Failed Negotiations	853.46	2006
Youth 10 and Under	Little Blaster	1,939.81	2002

   The "Adult Centrifugal Human Powered" category is no longer recognized as an individual category at WCPC. At the 2010 contest, an adult centrifugal human powered machine named 'Smokin Lamas' shot a pumpkin 830.21 feet - the machine was entered in the Human Powered division. The WCPCA has yet to recognize the shot as an event record.