Massachusetts man paddles giant pumpkin boat to break world record

A Massachusetts man paddled a hollowed-out giant pumpkin more than 40 miles at the Connecticut River in an attempt to break a world record.

Dave Rothstein of Florence carved his 1,024-pound pumpkin into a makeshift boat and paddled from Deerfield to Holyoke, a distance of more than 40 miles, in an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for longest journey by pumpkin boat paddling.

The previous world record of pumpkin boat paddling is currently held by Nebraska man Duane Hansen, who covered a distance of 37.5 miles in in 2022.

Another man namely Steve Kueny of Lebanon, Mo., took a 38.4-mile paddling journey in his own pumpkin boat last month, but his attempt has yet to be certified by Guinness World Records.

“Well beating the world record is a record for everyone here in the valley so I don’t consider that mine,” Rothstein told WWLP-TV.

“This is just to raise awareness to the Connecticut River Watershed because there a lot of us that live in close proximity to it and it’s an incredible resource that needs to be protected.”