US man paddles 61 kilometres in a pumpkin boat on 60th birthday to set world record. Read details here

A man from Nebraska, Duane, has set a world record by paddling in a hollowed-out pumpkin for 61 kilometers. Duane Hansen grew a giant pumpkin himself, which he took on this 11-hour trip. If Guinness World Records verifies it, this will be the longest journey by a pumpkin boat in the world.

It took Hansen about a decade to get the perfect pumpkin, which he named Berta. The previous record holder was a 40-kilometer pumpkin paddle. This gourd had a circumference of 3.7 metres and weighed 383 kilograms. Once hollowed out, it could easily fit into this new record-maker. He took this journey from Bellevue to Nebraska City through the Missouri River. On August 27, he started the journey at around 7:30 AM from the Bellevue Public Boats Dock. On completing the journey, officials took it to Facebook to announce his arrival in Nebraska City. The officials of Bellevue mentioned that they were proud of him for taking this 61-kilometer journey. They also said that they weren’t aware Hansen himself would be in the pumpkin.




Duane has been growing big pumpkins for quite a while now. This was on his 60th birthday, and he wanted to do something new and adventurous. While the man was on the way, his family members and friends continued cheering him up and following him on boats. They clicked pictures and recorded videos while serving the main purpose of being present there as witnesses.
After completing this journey, Hansen told his wife that his gourd-sailing days were over now and he wouldn’t be doing this again. His daughter told a local news outlet that she was very proud.



Hansen got the motivation to create this world record after he met a lady who held the record of 25-something miles. He met her at a three-day seminar in Portland. After this experience in a giant pumpkin, he mentions that one has to be on top of it the whole time. The passing boats left waves. At that moment, he had to stop everything and just hold on tight. That was one of the toughest parts of his journey.