A photo-finish win for André

November 17th, 2010

Congratulations to André Fioravanti for his victorious entry Lost Sailor Final5. The winner was submitted just under the wire, with only 32 seconds to spare!

It was a fascinating photo finish… Sebastian Ullmann was in the lead for a long time during the tense final minutes. Many of us here thought he was going to carry away the prize, but then André’s tweak on Sebastian’s chancessss pushed him out of the winner’s circle at the last possible minute. So close, Sebastian! As it turns out, had André NOT submitted his winning entry, Rafal Kasztelanic would have won with an entry that appeared 20 seconds later!

If we follow the ancestry for the winning entry, it’s remarkable that André’s winner is based on Sebastian’s, which is based on one from David Jones, which is based one from Magnus, which is based on one from the cyclist, and so on past contributions from Cameron Nowzari, Gwendolyn Fischer, Mike Russell, and previous winner Alfonso Nieto-Castanon. And of course, this is just the ancestry that the contest machinery happens to capture. Certainly the ideas of many others are expressed in the winning entry. Altogether the lead changed hands some 244 times, which I believe to be a record.

And so we on the contest team offer thanks to all of you who participated and who brought your ideas to the communal table. André wins the prize, but everyone deserves congratulations.