Regatta Adds Fun To Local Event

Regatta Adds Fun To Local Event AG WORLD 32-1-21 Growers of large pumpkins have figured out a way to use their 500-lb. "culls." They turn them into 1-person boats for racing. The idea started in Windsor, Nova Scotia, birthplace of giant pumpkin growing, thanks to native Howard Dill's mammoth pumpkin breeding program in the 1970's. As the popularity of weigh-off competitions spread, Howard's son, Danny, joined forces with Windsor's town council to start something new. Windsor held its first pumpkin regatta in 1999. Since then, regattas have spread to other communities such as Elk Grove, Calif., Tualatin, Ore., and Cooperstown, N.Y. "It's a lot of fun," says Randy Sundstrom, a member of the New York State Giant Pumpkin Growers Association (NYSGPGA) who has participated in the Cooperstown regatta. "It's good for the town. People stay overnight and pumpkin growers like to make a weekend out of it." Former Cooperstown Chamber Director Polly Renckens organized the first regatta in 2004 to go along with the annual weigh-off, where pumpkin growers compete for money prizes and national honors with pumpkins weighing well over 1,000 lbs. The regatta is held the day after the more serious weigh-off competition. The Chamber pays growers to bring smaller pumpkins (about 500 lbs. and 120-in. circumference) for the races, and growers also race for cash prizes. Additional races are held for sponsoring business owners and an open class for the public. Course lengths vary in each community. Cooperstown's is about 100 yards to a buoy and back, which takes about 20 minutes. "If you have a round pumpkin, you're going over," Sundstrom says, adding that the flattest pumpkins make the best vessels. A hole big enough for the racer to fit in is cut on the side of the pumpkin. The stem or the blossom end becomes the front, depending on which has more of a point. The inside of the pumpkin is cleaned out leaving a 1 1/2 to 3-in. thick rind. Sundstrom notes that he leaves a ridge of pulp in the bottom to keep him from sliding around. Competitors generally weigh less than 200 lbs. - those heavier tend to sink. Competitors get in their pumpkins on land. The pumpkins are on pallets, and a backhoe operator picks up the pallet and sets it in the water. Helpers in the water support the pumpkins until all the racers are in the water. Racers wear life jackets and use kayak paddles. Though the water is not that deep, police and conservation department patrols are on hand in case there are accidents. "Racing is almost as crazy as growing the giant pumpkin itself," Sundstrom says, noting that Coopertown's regatta draws 5,000 spectators. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce, 31 Chestnut St., Cooperstown, N.Y. 13326 (ph 607 547-9983; www.cooperstownchamber.org) or the New York State Giant Pumpkin Growers Association, www.nysgpga.com).

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