Flat Water Regatta offers up fun for a worthy cause

SANDPOINT — The old saying “everything old is new again” sums up the inspiration for the Great Sandpoint Flat Water Regatta, held this Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at City Beach.

Last year at a Rotary fundraiser Beth Craven was looking at an old Ross Hall photo which showed a host of canoes and kayaks racing in Sand Creek, and asked Jon Sayler why such an event isn’t held in this day and age.

At that moment the idea for a canoe and kayak event on Sand Creek was born.

“Jon said it hit him like a ton of bricks and he sat down right there and decided to make it a Rotary fundraiser,” said Matt Kerr, president of the Sandpoint Rotary, adding they hope to make the event annual. “Jon says fundraisers are like ivy: The first year it sleeps, the second year it creeps and the third year it leaps.”

So far more than 40 people have signed up for the event, which features a host of different races every hour. All proceeds raised will benefit the Rotary scholarship fund, which doled out more than $13,000 in scholarships this year to area students.

Organizers will have a booth set up at the Wooden Boat Show today, where anyone is welcome to sign up, at $25 per paddle. While pre-registering is strongly encouraged, race day sign ups will also be accepted.

The expert tandem race will start at 10 a.m. at City Beach, and will consist of two laps up Sand Creek, totaling five miles in length. That race will be followed by the expert solo race, also five miles, at 11 a.m.

At noon the recreational tandem race will start, consisting of one 2.5 mile lap, followed at 1 p.m. by the recreational solo race. The creative class, which will feature decorated canoes and kayaks, will start at 2 p.m.

For more information, visit “www.sandpointflatwaterregatta.com.”