Stillwater pumpkin paddlers take on choppy waters

While raindrops sprinkled on the St. Croix River, four paddlers jumped into their bright orange pumpkins at the Stillwater Harvest Fest on Sunday ready to race.

The pumpkin regatta, where “pilots” race in hollowed-out giant pumpkins, was a little different this year due to choppy waters created by more-than-30-mile-per-hour winds.

Before racers could get to the starting line, three pumpkins took on too much water and capsized. Audible groans from the hundreds of onlookers were heard when the pumpkins tipped over and their pilots fell into the water.

“It’s Stillwater,” said Cassie McLemore, the festival’s event director and emcee of the regatta. “But, we got hit with wind today.”

The pumpkins have never filled with water before the regatta began before, McLemore said. The race has been a part of the festival for more than a dozen years, she said, and it’s common for the pumpkins to fill with water halfway through.

Luckily, pumpkins still float when they’re full of water. Two of the competitors pushed their pumpkins through the waves, including last year’s champion Matt Schmidt, of Stillwater.

Noah Friedman, the only competitor to keep their pumpkin upright, crossed the finish line first.

The Becker resident paddled in honor of his brother, Teddy, who died four years ago. He said competing was “an honor and a cool experience.”

This year’s crop of pumpkins, which were donated by the St. Croix Growers Association, ranged between 500 and 1,000 pounds and Friedman picked his vessel last. The 1,000-pound pumpkin turned out to be the best boat, something Brandon Lamb knew all along.

“A lot of people think ‘smaller pumpkin, I could probably move it faster.’ But that’s not the case,” said Lamb, who is board president of the Summer Tuesday, Inc., nonprofit that puts on the festival. “The bigger the pumpkin, you get a better center of gravity usually.”

Lamb competed in the regatta in 2022. While the pumpkin drop event — during which pumpkins are splattered from a 100-foot crane — is his personal favorite event, Lamb said the regatta draws people from all over Minnesota.

The pumpkins are hollowed out the same way a jack-o’-lantern is but with a saw instead of a knife, Lamb said. They are lifted into the water by a forklift.

At the end of the race, the pumpkins are taken out of the water and later used for the pumpkin drop.

McLemore said she loves seeing the regatta every year and cheering the pilots on. Regardless of the wind, she said it was still a fun competition.