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Hurling pumpkins an obsession
Local man to compete in the World Championship Punkin Chunkin
Date published: 10/27/2008
BY JONAS BEALS Most people haven't had the pleasure, but one of the most triumphant sounds has to be the distant smack and splash of an 8-pound pumpkin hitting Accokeek Creek at 150 mph. Mark and Barbara Stephens of Stafford heard that sound yesterday. It's likely no one could be happier hearing the splash. They managed a successful test of their homemade Hokie Hurler--a 22-foot-tall pumpkin-throwing trebuchet they will enter in the World Championship Punkin Chunkin in Nassau, Del., this weekend. Yes, there is a world-championship pumpkin-launching contest. It started in 1986 as a friendly challenge among friends, and has expanded into an annual celebration of recreational engineering that draws thousands. There are a number of divisions in the competition, including air cannons, catapults and centrifugal launchers. Mr. Stephens was initially attracted to the event by the massive air cannons. He had maxed out the capability of his own potato gun, and was looking to take the next step, vegetable-wise. He found the monster launchers at the Punkin Chunkin to be almost too good--they shot the pumpkins so fast and so far that they were nearly impossible to see. He was, however, fascinated by the mechanical launchers. The trebuchet was exactly what he was looking for. A trebuchet, the type of machine Stephens built, is an ancient long-range weapon similar to a catapult. A counterweight swings a long arm in a circular motion, releasing a projectile from a sling. If constructed properly, the trebuchet can have a significant range. "I fell in love with the catapults and the trebuchets," he said. "People were coming up with these incredible, crazy designs. I'm always tinkering with something, so I was impressed." That was four years ago. Last year, the Hokie Hurler officially threw a pumpkin 429.26 feet at the Punkin Chunkin. It wasn't a winning throw, but it was the mark of an obsession run amok. "The name of the game is distance," Mr. Stephens said. "But we were just thrilled that it threw." "As long as it goes forward, it's a success," his wife added.
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