Merrimack Punkin Chunkin Team Sets New World Record

A Merrimack-based competitor in the weekend's Punkin Chunkin World Championship not only took home first place, but also set a new world record with their Friday launch.

A photo congratulating the American Chunker, Inc. team, the "unofficial winner" was posted Sunday night to the World Championship Punkin Chunkin Facebook page. The results are unofficial for the next 30 days, a separate post indicates.

According to the post, the American Chunker air cannon launched a pumpkin 4,694.68 feet on Friday, the first day of the competition near Bridgeville, Del. According to an article on Delaware Online, Friday boasted the best weather of the weekend, and no other air cannon launch came close to American Chunker's record-setting toss. 

According to the article, 15 mph winds with 20 mph gusts later in the weekend slowed pumpkins following their release from the cannons. The best scores recorded over the three days are tallied for the standings. 

The American Chunker team, captained by Brian Labrie, is 4 years old and taps into local science and engineering firms like FLIR Systems, a global producer of thermal imaging systems and analytic techniques in Nashua, to help improve their launches during the year leading up to competitions.

The previous world record was 4,483.51 feet, recorded in 2008. 

The Punkin Chunkin World Championship will be broadcast on the Science Channel at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving night.