New record set at East Sussex farm's Christmas tree throwing championships

The event at Catsfield Christmas Tree Farm near Battle, involved around 40 people each throwing three different six-foot firs as far as they could in the yard outside the Catsfield Christmas Tree Farm festive shop.

The men’s winner was Tadas Zakevicius from Seaford. He threw 9.06 metres, just beating last year’s record of nine metres thrown by David Elias from St Leonards. The world record is 12 metres.

The women’s winner was Vicky Reeves from Battle. She threw 6.50 metres.

Organisers of the event said the conditions at this year’s contest were perfect for the competition with no wind nor rain.

Competitors who participated were given three attempts to throw the tree as far as they could.

Clive Collins, founder of Catsfield Christmas Tree Farm, said: “It was an excellent turnout this year with athletes coming from Kent and Sussex to take part.

The contest was quite tense, especially the women’s competition with only 30 centimetres between the first and second place. It was a lot of fun and a great way to start the festive season.”

Supposedly, the tradition of throwing trees hails from Sweden where St Knut’s Day is celebrated on January 13. The Christmas tree is traditionally thrown out of the door on the day, which is the 20th day after Christmas. The Germans took this tradition one step further and turned it into a competition.