Report from the 2026 St Martin’s Pipe Smoking Contest in Hradec
On Saturday, 17 October 2026, the traditional St Martin’s Pipe Smoking Contest, organised by the Hradec Králové Pipe Club, took place in Hradec Králové. The slow pipe-smoking competition attracted 35 participants, with the winning performance lasting more than two hours.
The venue for this year’s gathering was, as is now traditional, the hunting lodge in Hradec Králové – Plačice - a fascinating setting right in the countryside, next to a pheasantry, with a local stream flowing nearby. The starting list included members of pipe clubs from Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia, as well as several competitors who were not affiliated with a club. The host, the Hradec Králové Pipe Club, welcomed a diverse group of pipe smokers and offered some excellent prizes, including pipes, tobacco, fine spirits and, above all, the challenge trophies for the winners.
Competitors used their own billiard pipes, and this year the organisers selected the vintage tobacco Dunhill Three Year Matured Virginia. In addition to the competition itself, the St Martin’s Pipe Smoking Contest offered a chance to taste vintage tobacco that, sadly, is no longer available to buy. It was a pure Virginia, and the pipe smokers agreed that they really enjoyed it: it burned well, despite seeming somewhat dry, did not bite and produced almost no moisture.
The winner of the St Martin’s Pipe Smoking Contest was Jan Krýsa of SKD Havlíčkův Brod, who achieved an outstanding time of 2:00:05. He was the only competitor to break the two-hour mark.
The runner-up was local competitor Milan Kozoň of KPC, with a time of 1:57:41. He finished just two minutes and twenty-four seconds behind the winner.
Third place went to Zdeněk Smaženka of SKD Havlíčkův Brod, whose pipe stayed lit for 1:51:32.
Just off the podium was Slovak champion Denis Adam of PC Nové Mesto nad Váhom, with a time of 1:43:12. Rounding out the top five was Tomáš Havelka of PC 00 Brandýsek, with a time of 1:37:29.
The results showed that there were strong performances throughout the field. No fewer than thirteen competitors surpassed the one-hour mark, and all of the top five kept their pipes lit for more than an hour and a half. The top three also competed for more than an hour and fifty minutes. You can find the full results at the end of the photo gallery.
The atmosphere was excellent: it was a very enjoyable and friendly get-together, the organisation was superb, and a delicious goulash rounded off the event.
We would like to thank the Hradec Králové Pipe Club for bringing back the St Martin’s Pipe Smoking Contest, and we look forward to next year’s event!
Photo credits: M. Štěpánek and J. Svoboda
