Favorite Moments From 2014: Epic Moment at Brooks Medieval Faire

American jouster, Stacy Wasson, shares a lovely and informative essay about her favorite experience of 2014:

Epic Moment at Brooks Medieval Faire

By Stacy Wasson

Stacy Wasson at Brooks 2014
(photo by Grant Zelych)

Last winter in a rare and fortuitous evening of bumming around on Facebook, I was contacted by someone I’d always wanted to meet – none other than Radar Goddard. Although there are countless ladies riding successfully at Renaissance Faires across the U.S. doing various types of theatrical jousting at a multitude of venues, there are relatively few women doing competitive balsa jousting internationally. Of these women, before this summer, I’d only had the pleasure of meeting and riding with Sarah Hay of Australia and one other young Norwegian woman, a protégé of Petter Ellingsen, Lisa Holar. I had heard Radar’s name and seen photos of her on many occasions and wondered what she was like, if we’d have anything in common, would she give me the time of day?

Imagine my surprise when she asked if Jeff and I would like to come to Canada that summer and joust in an international tournament. I had to pinch myself. “Really?” I’d asked her, “You wouldn't tease me would you?” Instant messaging can be a wonderful thing, and Radar was both charming and witty as she put me at ease and told me that she’d always wanted to meet Jeff and I. Arrangements were made, and the wait and wondering began. We had never been to Western Canada before and although most of the competitors were known to us, most of them we had never actually met.

When the appointed time came, we were met at the airport by a vanguard of cheerful Canadians waving heraldic plaques with our devices at the arrivals gate. Radar herself proved to be every bit as funny, friendly and knowledgeable as she’d come across the internet. Over the next few days she introduced us to her little corner of Canada, amazed, we couldn't help but smile at the boundless energy and enthusiasm of the people who surrounded her. Radar had managed to round up eleven experienced jousters.

Stacy Wasson(left), Nicolo Corrarello(center) and Sarah Hay(right), Brooks 2014
(photo by Grant Zelych)

Besides myself, of the internationals there was my ever stalwart and talented husband Jeffrey Wasson, Sarah Hay of Australia, Nicola Corrarello of Italy and Ole Nielsen from Denmark. For her Canadian compatriots, Radar had mustered Alison Mercer, Dale Gienow, Jean-Francois Drapeau, Jean-Sebastian Drapeau and Marc Hamel. Keeping us all in line and presiding over the officiation was the formidable Fred Piraux, while the ever clever Jordan Heron was Master of Ceremonies.

It was a brilliant combination of talent, good humor and cooperation. Preparing for the tourney and getting to know each other better was a real treat, I could go on and on about the skills and superlatives of each and every one of the jousters, as well as the folks on the ground. Included in that number I would be remiss not to mention our own daughter Emma. Emma is not only a talented rider, but after being raised in the shadow of the list like it or not, she has become an outstanding squire.

Emma Wasson hands a lance up to a jouster at Brooks 2014 (photo by Paul Keely)

The tournament was awesome, the heat, the horses, the wildly enthusiastic Canadian crowd. It was a weekend to remember, but for me, the most glorious moment came at the final tourney of the weekend during my match with Alison Mercer. All of the matches consisted of four passes, Alison and I had started our match earlier in the tournament but after two successful breaks, we’d had to stop due to equipment failure. Alison had a strap blow on her ecranche and had gone off to replace it with another. As the other matches continued, I waited and gathered calm about me. I was concerned. These next two passes would be my last for the tournament, the way everyone involved would remember me perhaps forever. Who knew when I might see some of these stellar competitors again?

To truly appreciate the moment, you must understand that before this particular tournament, I was almost sick with concern over the lances. Go into a room with 5 jousters and you’ll likely get 5 different opinions as to how to design the perfect lance. For those of you who are not familiar – the ideal form for execution of a jousting pass is called “the levée”. It's the slow graceful lowering of the lance, perfectly timed to meet your opponents shield as you cross in the center of the list. After engaging your opponent, with your lance broken or not, you proceed to just as elegantly raise it so that it is in an upright position when you reach the end of the list and hand it neatly to your awaiting, able-bodied squire.

For me at 5’5” and roughly 120 pounds (a featherweight in the world wide jousting line-up) the crux of the lance issue is this, that the fore end of the lance must not be so tip heavy that it plummets forward in the first stages of the levade. Remember that room of jousters? Most if not all of them will be strong men who don’t give a fig that the lance they designed may be tip heavy, they are able to muscle it in place easily and it doesn't concern them. There are ways of designing a lance that create a better balance hence making it more manageable for a variety of riders, but most of these guys aren't engineers and as I said before, it’s not their issue.

So for me, there is always that big question mark when packing for a trip. Who designed the lances? What type of tips are being used, will we get to practice with them? The implications are grave, for someone who does not handle their lance well, the results may be injury to themselves, their opponents or the unthinkable – the horses. Even in the most ideal circumstances, accidents can happen. No packing job is complete without a few roles of chewable antacids and a box of Zantac for good measure.

I won't lie, with their frangible pine tips, the Brooks lances had been on the heavy side for me, I’d been managing but it had not been easy. The heat had been oppressive and keeping hydrated had been a challenge for all of us. Every knowledgeable athlete knows that dehydration is the thief of strength. I took a few deep breaths and visualized a mantle of calm over myself and Willow my young inexperienced mount.

Stacy Wasson on the horse Willow. It was Willow's first jousting tournament
(photo by Twyla Brower Wehnes)

Finally, Jordan called Alison and I to our respective ends of the list. He reminded the crowd of our two successful passes earlier in the tournament and wittily remarked that “Here in Alberta when we say Hit Like A Girl it means Really Hard!” (I thought this was hilarious, even better when Jordan explained to me later it was a reference to a women’s hockey ad campaign – a joke that was obvious to all the Canadians.) At my end of the list, I steadied Willow and received my lance – the salute and take-off was a blur. Willow is small and quick, and so is Alison’s horse Siggy. My target, Alison’s black and gold ecranche approached rapidly and the impact was, as the Canadians are fond of saying “Epic”.

The frangible pine tips had been proving to pack a wallop, and good contact had been having a field day with our knuckles. Somewhere in the back of my mind it registered that my knuckles had been abused, but I was too pumped up to worry about it. Something was very odd about the weight of the lance, but it took a few moments for the primitive-lizard part of my brain to sort all this out as Willow and I came to a halt. Honestly, I don’t know if the crowd was going wild, I just remember the moment I realized that I might have broken the whole lance. In disbelief, I still had to stupidly ask the squire “Did I break it?” as I handed off the remains of my lance and raised my visor.

Stacy Wasson's(left) and Alison Mercer's(right) epic jousting pass(photo by Paul Keely)

“Are you kidding me?” he asked with a grin, “Take a look at this!” All he had in his hand was the grip and shattered wooden vamplate of the lance. I was still in disbelief. In 12 years of jousting this was a feat that I’d rarely seen, and then, only by men who are surely in the ranks of jousting demi-gods. Was I joining those ranks? Surely not, but no matter --- This no one could take away from me; on this day, in this tournament, at the Brooks Medieval Faire, Stacy Wasson had shattered her entire lance.

This no one could take away from me; on this day, in this tournament, at the Brooks Medieval Faire, Stacy Wasson had shattered her entire lance.

It was a benchmark, perhaps the high point of my jousting career. Our second pass was also a success, although overshadowed by the previous. Alison had broken both her lances as well and we grinned like idiots as we greeted each other for the traditional handshake of honor.

When the final scores were calculated, I was astonished to learn that Willow and I had won that tournament. Even though I had never been concerned with scores and winning, I must admit, to have won a tournament in such company – I was elated.*

Later as we were cleaning up, two young Canadian men approached Penny Pisano (a loyal STALC member) and myself. They presented to me for inspection a section of lance that they had somehow acquired. “Is that a piece of my lance?” I asked them. Oh yes, they assured me – not only was it mine, but it was part of the one that had broken so spectacularly. It had flown high up into the air and come down where they were sitting in the upper part of the grand stand.

“I had to duck,” said the shorter one. “And then I caught it,” chimed in the other. I must have grinned like a double idiot then – not only had I won the tournament, but I’d hit a home run as well.

“Wow... Would you like me to sign it for you?” I heard myself ask. (All this while part of my brain was thanking god nobody got hit,  and at the same time wondering if this was how Babe Ruth had felt.) The response was a resounding affirmative from both young men, who looked as if they’d won a great prize. Wow, Canada --- How could you not love the whole country?

*My win was one of four tourneys that comprised the entire competition; at the end of the weekend, Ole Nielsen of Denmark was the overall Champion.

Alison Mercer(left) and Stacy Wasson(right) beaming over Alison’s battered ecranche
(photo by Jeff Wasson)

Editorial note: In case you are wondering; the writing around Stacy's ecranche(which you can see in the photo at the top of this article) is her personal motto, which reads:
"Meme une petite fleur peut mettre a genoux un valeureux"
"Even the smallest flower can bring bring the valiant to their knees."

Do you have a favorite moment from 2014? Please share it in the comments.

Related articles:
Favorite Moments from 2014: Part One

Favorite Moments from 2014: Part Two

Favorite Moments From 2014: Photographers Andrew Wickens and Hanno van Harten

Favorite Moments from 2010: The Accidental International Jouster's Tale

Favorite Moments from 2014: Part Five

Wouter Nicolai Describes His Experiences Doing a 'Joust at Large'

On June 8, 2014, at the Archeon History Museum in the Netherlands, jousters Wouter Nicolai and Bertus Brokamp of Stichting HEI did a demonstration of a 'joust at large' -- a joust without a tilt. Jousting without a tilt is dangerous, even for experienced jousters(though much practice reduces the danger). Wouter Nicolai has been chosen as Most Chivalrous in several of the tournaments he has competed in, including the recent St Hallvard's Tournament 2014 and the Tournament of the Phoenix 2013. I asked Wouter to write something about his experiences doing the joust at large, and he kindly sent me the following text. Photographers Hans Splinter and Ronin Photography were kind enough to allow me to use their photographs to illustrate the text.

Written by Wouter Nicolai:

The joust at large is one of the tournament forms we have been talking about for a long time, but one that we had never actually tried. The joust at large (or “at random”) is a jousting form done without a tilt, usually followed directly by a melee with the sword. It was done in field armour, using sharp lances and, in most cases, shields.

A joust without a tilt between Sir John Holland and Regnault de Roye, from Jean de Wavrin, Les Choniques d' Angleterre (image provided by Wouter Nicolai)

To me the joust at large is fascinating, because of its simple and straightforward approach. Despite the dangers of the joust itself, this could be done on almost every field with little preparation (of the list). It also seems a very feasible way of organising a small joust by a local squire or knight in the 15th century. We have chosen to present this joust as a pas d'armes because the concept of a challenger and a defendant resonates with the audience, and it is a good format to convey a very real historical context for jousting, needing no more than a small crew and two riders.

Bertus and I have been doing historic jousting demonstrations for years, mainly in the open air museum Archeon in the Netherlands, in these demonstrations we show skill at arms with sword and lance, jousting and melee. Our experience in working together has given us a good starting point for developing this new demonstration of a joust without tilt.

Wouter Nicolai(left) jousts Bertus Brokamp(right) at Archeon 2014(photo by Hans Splinter)

Our demonstration has three parts: First, we start with the challenge to introduce the concept of a pas d' armes to the audience and explain how and why such tournaments were done. The challenge starts with the defendant declaring the pas, and the challenger declaring the challenge. Second, we do the skill at arms with runs on the quintain, as the lance is a knight's primary weapon. In our try-out show, this was a simple shield on a stick, so we could easily remove it before the joust.

Wouter Nicolai strikes the quintain(photo by Hans Splinter)

The next part is with the sword, where the rider encircles cabbages or watermelons and shows different sword techniques. Third, we do the joust itself in two rounds. Both rounds starting with the lance and moving on with a melee weapon (sword or club). We keep fighting until one rider surrenders.

Bertus Brokamp slices a watermelon with his sword(photo by Ronin Photography)

How we do the joust:
Although most if not all readers will understand how dangerous jousting without a tilt can be, I do want to emphasise:  Don't go and casually try a joust at large, it is very dangerous! We have spent a lot of time and effort on proper training before we considered ourselves ready for this challenge.

In a way the runs of joust at large are no different from a charge in the melee, but there are some other factors that play a role in doing a successful pass. The angle in which you approach the opponent is more critical with the lance, especially when using an arret. In general there is less room to manoeuvre due to the length and off-balance of the lance.

In the runs, I try to keep the horse in a slow canter and only speed up when I am certain I am in range and not in risk of getting too close. Adjustment of the distance to the opponent happens by sideways incline, not by changing the direction of the run.

For the first joust, we positioned two cabbage-cutting posts in the track of the run to use as a guide. This did not work because a run without tilt is done differently than on a tilt. Without a tilt, we are constantly adjusting our position sideways, which clearly does not align to a straight track. Once we moved the posts we got much closer, but only close enough to score a few attaints.

Wouter Nicolai(left) and Bertus Brokamp(right) joust without a tilt at Archeon 2014 
(photo by Hans Splinter)

The equipment:
The lances we use for the joust at large are a bit lighter than the lances we normally use. We use poplar inserts, which behave a bit more like real lances than balsa inserts. They are harder to break, and more important (for the audience) is that they make more noise when they hit. The downside of the poplar insert is that if you cannot get close enough you cannot break. We decided that the more realistic sound of an impact was more important than easy breaking.

The first round of melee is done with blunt swords. The sword melee is fought in a more technical way than the club melee, because fighting with swords on horseback is more dangerous and very destructive to armours. The swords are similar to what re-enactors use, although I use a sword which was specifically designed to use in the mounted melee. It has a thicker and more rounded cutting edge (5mm) and is shaped like the swords drawn in Rene d' Anjou's tournament book.

Wouter Nicolai(red)and Bertus Brokamp(blue) fight with swords on horseback
(photo by Hans Splinter)

The clubs are made from a hard rubber, although we will probably use wooden clubs for future demonstrations. They allow us to fight in a more violent way, with less risk of injuring our opponent.

The joust and melee are done in field armours and helmet. We do not have time to change helmets or visors between the joust and melee. The visors of the sallets are locked down with a bolt, to make sure they will not open on the impact of a weapon.

Bertus Brokamp(left) and Wouter Nicolai(right) fight with clubs during a mounted melee
(photo by Hans Splinter)

The shield for this kind of tournament, should be a single curved one, rather than the saddle curve shields we use for the shaped solid lances (i.e. joust of peace). The shield is intended to catch the lance rather than to deflect it. In the photos I am using the saddle curve shield, this was because my war shield was not yet ready to use. It is not an appropriate shield for this style of jousting.

Bertus Brokamp(left) and Wouter Nicolai(right) continue to wear their shields during the melee. Bertus' shield (blue and white) has a single concave curve around a horizontal axis, the correct style of shield for the joust at large. Wouter's shield (gold, black & white) is a saddle curve shield, it curves concavely around a horizontal axis and also curves convexly away from a vertical axis which goes down the center of the shield(like the prow of a ship). This type of shield is not ideal for the joust at large (photo by Hans Splinter)

A last bit of equipment we use to add more safety and historical accuracy is the arret d'cuiras(lance rest). A properly used arret has some advantages. First of all it forces a rider to use a proper historic technique in handling his lance, which is a vertical drop and a precise method of couching it. This keeps the lance tip in the air and out of the way. It also stabilizes the lance during the run, which helps the rider to focus more of his attention to riding his horse.

You can see the arret(lance rest) on the right side(his right) of Bertus Brokamp's armour
(photo by Ronin Photography)

Our joust at large demonstration will once again be done at the Gebroeders van Limburg Festival in Nijmegen (the Netherlands), August 30-31, 2014, and next year in the open air museum Archeon (the Netherlands), May 24-25, 2015.

Wouter Nicolai on his Andalusian stallion Flamenco(photo by Hans Splinter)

Related articles:
Joust for Fun: A Knight and his Axe

The Jousters of St Hallvard's Tournament

Jarek Struczynski Wins the "Tournament of the Phoenix 2013"

Video From Lance Mounted Camera

Great new video from Ben van Koert/Kaos Historical Media. The camera was mounted on Ben's lance during a jousting pass at the recent "Arundel Castle International Jousting Tournament".

(video by Ben van Koert/Kaos Historical Media)

Historical Jousting Tournament at Nyborg Slot in Denmark

On July 6 & 7, 2013, at the historical castle of Nyborg Slot in Denmark, a group of accomplished international jousters who belong to or are associated with the Foundation Historical Education Initiative(HEI) recreated an historical jousting tournament as part of the annual Danehof Market. This was the second year that a jousting tournament was included as part of the event, and hopefully jousting will continue to play a part in this annual festival.

Click on pictures to embiggen.

Panoramic shot of the Nyborg Slot Lyst Field created by combining 8 separate shots
(photo by Nicolai Godvin/courtesy of Nyborg Slot)

The jousters who participated included the famous organizer of "The Grand Tournament of Sankt Wendel", Arne Koets, as well as several of the jousters who participated in Sankt Wendel -- Joram van Essen, Alix van Zijl, Wouter Nicolai, Andreas Wenzel -- and one other jouster, Bertus Brokamp. The Nyborg Slot tournament consisted of two sessions of jousting and two sessions of mounted melee, one session of each for each day. Although scores were kept and the winner of each session was announced, no overall score was kept and there was no overall champion.

According to Arne Koets,"the winning was unimportant to all of us," and the jousting at Nyborg Slot was "more of an actual tournament then a modern competition." When asked to expand upon that statement, Arne responded:

"We did the most historically accurate jousting and tournament we could muster. This also means that the rules represented the sentiments of the period and were not geared towards a modern competition. The participants rode their best to score points (based on Tiptoft* rules and others) but the prowess was judged by a lady in the end." -- Arne Koets

Arne Koets(left) jousts Wouter Nicolai(right)(photo by Nicolai Godvin/courtesy of Nyborg Slot)

In keeping with this historical authenticity, all of the jousting was done with tapered solid lances with steel coronels and vamplates. The lances are made from young pine trees which naturally taper from base to tip. When the trees are the right height and diameter, they are cut down, the branches are removed, they are cut to the exact length needed and some minimal shaping is done, thus creating the most historically accurate solid lances according to what is currently known about 15th and 16th century jousting.

Preparing the lances for the joust(photo by Nicolai Godvin/courtesy of Nyborg Slot)

All of the jousters had practiced using these tapered solid lances, though for Alix van Zijl, Wouter Nicolai and Bertus Brokamp, it was the first time they had used them in competition. And as far as anyone knows, Alix is the first female jouster to use solid tapered lances in competition. Before this tournament, Alix had jousted using both balsa and poplar tipped frangible lances. When asked about the differences between frangible lances and tapered solid lances, she replied:

"Jousting with solid lances is a lot different, for one thing, they are a lot heavier than the usual balsa tipped ones. I had to train specifically to gain the strength to handle them safely. The lances are also very differently balanced because of the sharp steel coronel at the end and the grappers and vamplates around the grip. That makes it imperative to use an arret, and that changes a lot in, for example, couching the lance and aiming. We all trained a lot in getting it right.

The solid lances have so much possibility of doing damage that safety goes first, and that again makes jousting difficult. You really don't want to hit low, ever. And combined in all of this is that the hits are harder than I ever had, including a balsa tipped ferrule hit on a non-protected area on my arm. Even with a good armour, I am still bruised." -- Alix van Zijl

Alix van Zijl(left) breaks lances with Joram van Essen(right)(photos by Hanno van Harten)

When asked if she planned on continuing to joust with tapered solid lances, she replied:

"Am I planning on continuing jousting with solids? Hell yeah!!!" -- Alix van Zijl

When asked how the melees at Nyborg Slot compared to the melees at Sankt Wendel, Alix replied:

"The melees are more than fun! This group (and the 2012 group of Nyborg as well) is so intent on doing it right, keeping the horses in a canter, trying to hit each other, seeing the fun in ambushes and good maneuvers. We use a more robust system compared with Sankt Wendel, where the Marshall decides if the jouster has been hit often enough." -- Alix van Zijl

Joram van Essen, Andreas Wenzel, Wouter Nicolai and Alix van Zijl during a Nyborg 2013 melee
(photo by Majbritt Merstrand)

It certainly seems as if these jousters are intent on "doing it right". When asked about his beliefs and feelings in regard to the competitive aspect of competitive jousting, Arne Koets replied:

"My personal interest in jousting and tournaments is that of martial art and experimental research. I want to understand it, like an eastern martial artist tries to learn to reach the next dan. One can do martial arts competitively, but it should not detract from its core artistic character. Sometimes losing well is better then winning badly." -- Arne Koets

Arne Koets on his horse Maximillian (photo by Isis Sturtewagen/Stichting HEI)

Martyn Smith had this to say about the tournament at Nyborg Slot:

“Up until this weekend at Nyborg I was convinced that it was impossible to get anywhere near re-creating an authentic 15th century joust & melee. I was wrong.... As marshal of the joust, it was for a fleeting moment like being back in the 1470's. What these guys have put together should inspire all of us into jousting/historical representation/living history or whatever you chose to name it!” -- Martyn Smith

Joram van Essen breaks his lance against Bertus Brokamp
(photo by Nicolai Godvin/courtesy of Nyborg Slot)

When asked how they felt about the Nyborg Slot tournament overall, Arne replied:

"It was an inspiring event. The newer jousters amongst us gave very good account of themselves, showing tremendous improvement over last year and dealing with some new and hard to use equipment. The hits were hard and spectacular, the jousters were professional. The melees were hard and interesting, ridden with great skill. The atmosphere was hard working but friendly and relaxed.

The event was again well organized as always, and the ground crew was plentiful and made up of long standing friends who knew their jobs well. The lances worked out great, and we were very happy to have the vamplates which showed repeated impacts. The clubs were great too, and we broke many."

And Alix stated:

"Slot Nyborg has provided us with a magnificent opportunity to show authentic 15th century jousting. We thank them!"

Alix van Zijl waiting to joust (photo by Nicolai Godvin/courtesy of Nyborg Slot)

You can find out more about Nyborg Slot on their Facebook page as well as on the following websites:
Nyborg: Danmarks Riges Hjerte
&
Nyborg Slot

You can find out more about Stichting HEI, the jousting group that produced the tournament, on their website.

You can see more pictures from the Nyborg Slot 2013 jousting tournament in the TJL Facebook page album, "Nyborg Slot 2013".


*Tiptoft rules are based on an historical set of jousting rules from a primary source. Though some gaps in the rules were filled in based on remarks from the manuscripts translated in Jousting in Medieval and Renaissance Iberia by Noel Fallows.

A New Kind of Frangible Lance Tip: Spiral Cut Pine Tips

The following article was written by Callum Forbes of the Order of the Boar:

At the “Harcourt Park 2013 World Invitational Jousting Tournament” (in New Zealand), we tested new spiral cut pine tips in our lances instead of using the traditional length-wise cut balsa tips. Balsa is on a protected species list and is becoming more expensive. This adds significantly to the costs of jousting. Because of this we started looking for alternatives to balsa tips.

When I was in Belgium at "Hackaland 2011", Fred Piraux showed me a video of a tip design made of European ‘yellow pine’ which a wood-turning friend of his had suggested to him. Fred tested several prototypes which broke well on a static quintain and very kindly gave me a fragment of one as a sample to take back home. It is essentially a solid dowel with a spiral cut down most of its length with a router bit.

Pictures of Fred Piraux's spiral cut pine lance tips, intact(above) and broken(below)
(photos by Frederic Piraux)

Dave Smith, our announcer at all of our jousting events in New Zealand, built a rig to allow mass production of these tips and made several prototypes for me from pinus radiata, which is a widely used forestry timber in New Zealand. It is cheap and is also a renewable timber.

We tested two spiral cut tip designs late last year. One had a deeper cut and one a shallower cut. Both broke very well on tests against our ‘shock’ quintain, but when I had them tested with me as the target, people had trouble getting a good shattering effect with the shallower cut ones. So I commissioned Dave to make 200 of the deeper cut tips for our “Harcourt Park 2013 World Invitational Jousting Tournament” last February.

Tournament Tip showing the form of the spirals. We paint all of our tips in one of two colours to make judging easier and also to make the tip the same colour as the colours we use on our lances so that they are not so obvious as inserts to the public.(photo by Callum Forbes)

Because the pine tip weighs 3 – 4 times as much as a balsa equivalent and because it is more rigid, you have to hit more accurately than balsa to get them to shatter correctly. By this I mean you have to hit square on. With balsa, because it flexes a bit more then pine, you can hit at a bit of an angle and still get a good shattering effect. With pine tips, the problem is that it is easier for the lance to deflect off the target at an unpredictable angle. By encouraging people to hit more accurately (i.e., square on), this risk is mitigated to some extent.

During the actual joust, when people hit hard and accurately, we had spectacular breaks that were louder than balsa. We also got multiple fragmentation, and the fragments flew further into the air (and into the crowd!) than balsa.

Andrew McKinnon from Australia takes a hit at "Harcourt Park 2013" showing tip fragmentation in action(photo by Andrew Turner/ATPhoto)

In hindsight, the tips were cut too deeply, and although they hit harder than balsa, a few people thought they were a bit too easy. We also had a teething issue in that our timber supplier sent us dowels in 2 diameters – 30mm and 32mm – and the 30mm dowels were a little too easy to break. But when introducing something new into the joust, it pays to err on the side of caution. Regardless, everybody thought the new tips were a major step forward.

We did test some prototype shallower cut tips at the tournament in front of the public as a demonstration. They broke very well, and the riders felt the impact a lot more. So the consensus is that we use these tips at future international events like "Harcourt Park", and we plan to use them at our next big international tournament which is planned for February 2014 at another location in New Zealand.

Overall these tips were a great success as I wanted a tip that broke harder than balsa without the splintering that you get from balsa tips. Because people are cutting the balsa length-wise (although I have also recently seen this done with pine) the balsa tip splinters into sharp shards. However, with the spiral cut, the pine tips break blunt so there is no chance of a splinter entering an eye slit or finding a weak spot in armour.

You can see the blunt ends left on both the broken piece and the remaining portion of the lance tip after the spiral cut pine tip broke off of Sarah Hay's lance during this rare tip to tip hit.
(photo by Andrew Turner/ATPhoto)

From the cost point-of-view, the spiral cut pine tips also worked out as being a bit cheaper than the last batch of balsa we brought.

I would like to acknowledge Frederic Piraux from Belgium as the designer of these tips, and my manufacturer Dave Smith of Dannevirke, New Zealand for making our local prototypes and production tips.

Callum Forbes
Order of the Boar, New Zealand
www.jousting.co.nz

You can see more pictures, video and information about the “Harcourt Park 2013 World Invitational Jousting Tournament” in the following articles:

Canadian Dale Gienow Wins New Zealand's “Harcourt Park 2013 World Invitational Jousting Tournament”

Video from "Harcourt Park 2013 World Invitational Jousting Tournament"

Luke Binks: Armourer and Jouster at “The Grand Tournament in Sankt Wendel”

“The Grand Tournament in Sankt Wendel” begins this Friday, and everyone involved with it is gearing up for the big event. Jouster and armourer Luke Binks managed to find a few minutes to answer several questions about his involvement with the tournament.

Luke Binks (photo from Facebook)

According to the “Grand Tournament in Sankt Wendel” website:

Luke Binks is Australian born and bred with a life long passion for Knights and the middle ages. Wanting to learn more than he could read in books, Luke started to make armour, learn to fight and ride horses in 2002.

By the following year Luke was competing in his first joust. Since then, Luke has competed in tournaments in over 10 different countries across the globe in search of like minded people and the ultimate pass with a lance.

According to Arne Koets, the organizer of the “Grand Tournament of Sankt Wendel”(GTSW), Luke Binks is not only a jouster in this competition, he was also heavily involved in preparing for the event. In addition to making “loads of armour”, he rode and trained several horses to prepare them for the tournament. He also moved from Australia to Norway, and although the move was not purely for the GTSW, it did make it easier for him to help with the tournament.

How did you become involved with the "Grand Tournament in Sankt Wendel"(GTSW)?

Luke: I was just invited to the event rather early on. Toby, Arne and I were the first to try this style of jousting, so I presume that we were first on the list for the organizers.

What changes have you made in your equipment in preparation for the GTSW?

Luke: I haven't made too many changes to my equipment. Although I have made a new Frog mouth helm, which was compulsory, and had a custom jousting saddle built. Both of which are only just finished on time and not tested. Also a few other things that we do often, like a new caparison, shield etc...

Just a quick note about the lances. The lances are just trees. Young trees that have been cut down and let dry, then prepared at the butt end for the grapper to fit on. They vary from 60-70mm at the hand area, tapering to 35mm at the tip end. Just thought you may like to know that little part, we are going to joust with trees.

Luke comments while Per Estein Prøis-Røhjell(Pelle), another jouster who will be competing at Sankt Wendel, breaks a lance against the shock quintain
(video by Luke Binks)

What kind of specific training or practice have you done in preparation for the GTSW?

Luke: We have done a lot of training for this event. We started specific training for the event early in the year to make sure our horses and us were ready. We do a lot of dressage, and a lot of shock quintain work with the solid lances to get familiar with the different sort of impact. I wish I had more time over the last month to train, but the daily training we did earlier in the year will pull us through.

Luke Binks practices breaking solid tapered lances against a shock quintain
(video from Luke Binks)

Tell me the name of and a little about your history/relationship with the horse you will be riding in the GTSW.

Luke: My horse's name is Misty(actually my girlfriend's horse). Although not a very tough war horse name, he is a good horse. This is his first season as a jousting horse as he is fairly young at 6. He is a Norwegian warmblood, but not built like a typical warmblood. He is 155cm high, rather stocky and of a very tough nature. He doesn't look like most of the other horses as he won't move when told to by other horses, and always is covered in scratches and bites from fighting. But that toughness and resilience makes him handle the mounted combat rather well. It is also the thing that I love and hate about him.

What part of the GTSW are you most nervous about?

Luke: I don't think I'm nervous about any of it really. I would have liked to have my new gear done earlier so I could have trained in it, but even that doesn't concern me that much.

What are you most looking forward to at the GTSW?

Luke: The social side is something I'm really looking forward too, as the whole crew here is a massive bunch of the most amazing people that I don't get to see often enough. But I'm also really looking forward to getting in there and smashing some stuff up!!!!

Luke Binks, Per Estein Prøis-Røhjell and others practice mounted combat
(video from Luke Binks)

To learn more about "The Grand Tournament in Sankt Wendel", check out their website which includes both a German version and an English version.

Paul Schneider Wins the Gath of Baal Jousting Tournament

The Gath of Baal Jousting Tournament took place Saturday through Monday, May 26 – 28, as part of the Tennessee Renaissance Festival. This tournament was hosted by the Free Lancers led by Roy Cox. Roy Cox did not compete in the tournament, rather he acted as a mounted marshal and was final judge on scoring. (Skip to the bottom of this post to see a simple list of the tournament results.)

Roy Cox carries in the US Marine flag on Memorial Day(photo by DWRD)

The Gath of Baal tournament included three different styles of jousting, Plankengestech, Welshgestech and Realgestech – a different style for each day of the tournament. Monday, in addition to being the last day of the tournament, was first and foremost Memorial Day. Instead of riding out carrying flags of their own heraldry, competitors rode out carrying flags representing the armed services that either they or their family members have served in. (click on pictures to embiggen)

(photos by DWRD)

Saturday was the Plankengestech competition. In Plankengestech, a secondary breastplate is added over the left half of the breastplate. It has a mini buff and wing at the top for protection of the neck and face. The target is that secondary breastplate. After three rounds of jousting(each round consisting of four pairs jousting four passes each), the winner of the Plankengestech section of the tournament was Paul Schneider.

Paul Schneider(left) jousts Charlie Andrews(right) in Plankengestech (photo by Kirk Hughes)

Sunday was the Welshgestech competition. In Welshgestech, a buff and smooth grand guard are added to the jouster's armour. The smooth grand guard is the target. After three rounds of jousting, there was a tie for first place in the Welshgestech competition between Gene Martino and Paul Schneider.

Gene Martino(left) and Paul Schneider(right)in Welshgestech(photos by Kirk Hughes)

Monday was the Realgestech competition. Realgestech is very similar to Welshgestech except that the grand guard is gridded, typically with 9 grids. The grids make it easier for the lance to lock into the guard and create a harder blow. The target is, of course, the gridded grand guard. After three rounds of jousting, Charlie Andrews, of the Knights of Mayhem, won the Realgestech competition.

Charlie Andrews breaks his lance against John Byington in Realgestech(photo by DWRD)

The points for the different styles of jousting were always awarded in the same way: 1 point for a touch on the proper target; 3 points for a lance break in front of the pennant; 5 points for a lance break beyond the pennant; 5 points to each knight for a tip to tip strike; and 10 points for an unhorsing.

The lances were all made using a straight piece of wood with a solid (not scored or weakened in any way) balsa tip. The pennant(a small fabric flag) was attached at the place where the balsa was attached to the wood.

Lances with pennants (photo by Lauren Renee-Zartman Martino)

Based on the points won over all three days of competition, Paul Scheider was the Grand Champion of the tournament.

Paul Schneider at the Gath of Baal jousting tournament(photo by DWRD)

Although the competition was real, since the tournament was part of the entertainment for the renaissance festival, the jousters used stage names during the tournament. Below is a list of the stage names followed by the everyday names of the competitors.

Don Martino Fernandez – Paul Schneider
Prince Killem – Charlie Andrews
Sir Barchan Jouster – Barchan
Sir Charles Howard – Leland Coleman
Sir Edward DeVere – Louis Martino
Sir Ian McFarland – Gene Martino
Sir John Byington – John Byington
Sir Rogan Lors – William Garrison

Several of the jousters at the Gath of Baal jousting tournament(photo by DWRD)

Overall Tournament Standings:

Grand Champion: Don Martino Fernandez with 120 points (Paul Schneider)

2nd place: Prince Killem with 114 points (Charlie Andrews)
3rd place: Sir Ian McFarland with 113 points (Gene Martino)
4th place: Sir Barchan with 102 points (Barchan)
5th place: Sir Edward DeVere with 99 points (Louis Martino)
6th place: Sir Charles Howard with 97 points (Leland Coleman)
7th place: Sir Rogan Lors with 87 points (William Garrison)
8th place: Sir John Byington with 55 points (John Byington)

Individual Style Winners:

Plankengestech:
Don Martino Fernandez (Paul Schneider)

Welshgestech:
Tie – Don Martino Fernandez (Paul Schneider) and Sir Ian McFarland (Gene Martino)

Realgestech:
Prince Killem (Charlie Andrews)

Andre Renier Creates a New Jousting Lance

Andre Renier is an experienced member of the Knights of Iron Joust Team as well as an historical technician. As an historical technician, he basically tries to figure out exactly how things from the past worked and how they were made to work that way. He and the WEC Institute recreated the Maximillian Exploding Armor featured in a previous article on “The Jousting Life”. Recently, he has been working on creating a jousting lance better suited to the modern sport of jousting than the lances that are currently available.


He kindly agreed to be interviewed about developing his new jousting lance:

How long have you been involved in jousting?

Andre: Both L. Dale Walter and I were hired by Michigan Renaissance Festival in 1983 as their first knights along with a guy by the name of Ralph and older man whose name has been lost to history.

How did you become involved in jousting?

Andre: I have always had a love of history and horses. In the early '80's I went to the Michigan Renaissance Festival (MRF). I had spent the entire day watching shows. Late in the afternoon SAK Theater did their show. It was the first time I had seen audience participatory theater. I decided right there that I wanted to do that to be part of that kind of theater style. Also, they had no knights. What kind of Renaissance Fair had no knights on horses? So I applied for the next year and was hired. When MRF found out I had horses and was willing to work for $25 a day I became a knight...sort of. Dale was hired in much the same way but with his superior negotiating skills he got $35 a day. At that time we had no script, no idea how to joust, no armor and no one to turn to for guidance. Just a couple of guys with horses. MRF management handed us broomsticks painted black with gray duct tape spiraled down them and told us if we had more than 35 people in the stands we had to do a show.

What led you to decide to create your own jousting lance?

Andre: The Knights of Iron Joust Team may have the world's largest private modern lance collection. We were looking for something that was not on the market. I was challenged to build a lance that had better handling characteristics, was more durable and was easier to operate for beginning riders - a cost effective practice and training lance. I thought it would be easy. I was wrong. We have built 14 different models with 26 minor revisions. Our research and development costs have now exceeded $10,000 not including the costs to design and build the world's only purpose built lance lathes. We now have 5 machines dedicated to making lances and components.

Jousting Lance Prototypes 1, 2 and 3 (photos by Andre Renier)

What historical considerations were involved in the design of the lance?

Andre: We did not set out to recreate a lance from history. However we have learned much from the lances that remain in museums and from historical accounts. We faced the same problems they did. Lances need to do their job while looking good and not breaking the budget. They need to be light yet sturdy. In the past Limewood (similar to American Basswood) was used. It has good strength for its weight and is easily carved. Wood of the Poplar tree is similar. It is slightly more sturdy while being a touch lighter than Basswood. The drawback is that it is a bit harder to carve. Once we settled on a wood we had to develop the machines. Again, we took cues from historical lance lathes. Our machinery is really just high tech versions of what was used 500 years ago. In fact our lance lathes are largely based on images of lance lathes from the period.

Jousting Lance Model 12 prototype and close up (photos by Andre Renier)

What aspects of the design were based on its functionality for contemporary jousting?

Andre: We set out to make a modern lance for the modern joust. We wanted to make something that could be used for practice and would readily accept 1 1/4" balsa tips.

Jousting Lance M-14 with "hidden" ferrule that will accept any 1 1/4" tip

It needed to be something that could be used for years to come and was easy to operate. Also, it needed to be comfortable. We reduced the size of the tail section (the part that goes under the arm). Many riders complained that the early models we made were to thick under the arm. The Model 14 is large enough to put under the arm pit and hold while not being too large to be uncomfortable for most.

Andre Renier holding the M-14 jousting lance under his arm

How much of the design was based solely on practicality? (i.e. cost to manufacture and ship, specific consumer interest, etc...)

Andre: The Model 14 is a completely modern lance. Its design was based on a number of criteria.

It needed to be light. Many of today's jousters are looking for a lance that is lighter in the tip and requires less upper body strength to raise, lower and keep on target.

It needed to offer the consumer a good value for their money. We wanted something that is easy to ship and easy to assemble once it arrives. We ship each lance pre-primer painted with a glue kit so that after unpacking a lance can be completely assembled and ready for final painting in less than 15 minutes. After the glue cures for a day the lance is ready for final painting.

What aspect of creating your lance was the most fun?

Getting the lance into my team mates hands and watching them play. For those who know Dale know that he is quick with a joke and equally quick to laugh at one, but rarely in our nearly 30 years have I seen him grin. After his second pass in a row with the X-13 (Model 13 proto-type) he grinned at me and said, "This is a game changer!"

Jousting Lance Model X-13 prototype (photo by Andre Renier)

What aspect of creating your lance was the most frustrating?

Andre: Weight. We had set a goal of a 5lb. lance "loaded" with a 1 1/4 inch by 36 inch balsa tip and a Historic Enterprises 1 1/4 inch Rubber Cornel. We had to get the weight out of the middle of the lance but retain its strength. 500 years ago they fluted the lances to achieve this. Fluting is expensive and did not achieve our goals. We tried quite a number of novel solutions including a carbon fiber lance tube. Carbon fiber composite lances are awesome but very expensive. We finally went back to a lance designed and built by L. Dale Walter in the 80's. It was still around in the attic of my garage. We used the midsection of that lance as the inspiration for the Model 12, Model 13, and Model 14. We were able to achieve a "loaded" weight of 4.5 lbs., one half pound lighter than our goal.

Did anything particularly amusing happen during the process of making your lance?

Andre: We initially thought that we wanted the balance point of the lance to be close to the front of the grip. With a lance balanced right at your index finger you feel no tip weight. We thought, "Why, we have created the perfect lance." On the first test run I happily had my new lance in hand. I asked my horse Riley for a nice slow canter. As I passed the quintain my lance was still vertical. I realized the error. A lance that is balanced so close to the grip requires that you consciously push the lance tip down. Riders who tested it found they didn't like it all. Most notably the lighter riders found that they had to use a fair amount of strength to rotate the tip down instead of just "dropping" the tip.

Is there anything else you would like to say about the lance?

Andre: The Model 14 Lance is a modern lance for the modern joust. It is designed to be easier to operate, to allow for easier rotation and easier target acquisition. It is also designed to be easier to disengage after tip break. It has a tail compartment that allows for weights to be added. This allows for customization of the balance point. The tail section can be easily modified for riders with "angel wing" armor or for riders who prefer a shorter tail section.

Andre Renier holding the M-14 jousting lance

Who would you like to thank for inspiring and/or helping you to design and create your lance?

Andre: We would like to thank the Knights of Iron Joust Team for all the help throughout the process and Dale Walter for challenging me to build a vision and testing each of the successes and failures. I must also thank Sam Matyas and Kellyn Burtka for their insight, and honesty throughout the process. And Jason Monarch for cheering the innovations and assisting in determining how and why we had failures. Finally I'd like to thank Matthew Mansour for taking a chance on these new lances and putting them in his show.

When and where will your lances be available for purchase by the general public?

Andre: Our lances are now available for purchase through www.tiltandtack.com with ALL profits being donated to equestrian safety research.