River Racing

• By GEORGE MORRIS
• Advocate News Features staff
• Published: Oct 10, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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David Benoist got into paddling when a bum knee made him give up running. In 2001, he came up with an idea for a race on the Mississippi River because his home town of Natchez needed an attraction different “than hoop skirts and the antique thing.”

The result is the Phatwater Kayak Challenge. It may not be as popular as the antebellum homes, but it’s making waves.

The first race had 11 paddlers. Last year, there were 109 paddlers in 89 boats making the 42-mile run from Grand Gulf, which is near Port Gibson, to Natchez. When this year’s Phatwater takes place on Saturday, Benoist expects 150 paddlers in more than 100 watercraft to take to the Mississippi.

Some of those racers are world-class, including South Africans Steve Woods, 26, and Bevan Manson, 29, who will be aiming to pick up the $2,000 prize for winning in less than four hours, which has never been accomplished in the previous six races.

Most of the paddlers, however, have less lofty aspirations.

“We are the target audience for Viagra,” Benoist said. “Our paddlers are comprised largely of people from 35 to 60. “You can’t go to NASCAR and hop on the track with Jeff Gordon, but you can paddle a kayak in this race with world champions.

“It’s a great exercise for aging athletes. It’s something you can pick up at 50 years of age and carry into your 80s. We’ve got a guy coming this year in his 80s. We had a 70-year-old woman in our race last year who beat a bunch of young guys. It’s a great activity for the aging athlete.”

Actually, said Michael Beck of Baton Rouge, it’s a fun event for anyone who enjoys paddling. Beck has been in four of the past six races and will paddle tomorrow, although he doesn’t rate himself among the more competitive racers.

“If you grew up in Baton Rouge as I did, you tend to think of the river as a dangerous, dirty place. It’s a different river up there,” Beck said. “Typically, I paddle 42 miles on the river without seeing any garbage go by. The water is cleaner. It’s clean enough to swim in, which it isn’t downstream from Baton Rouge.

“Once you get upstream of Baton Rouge, the scenery improves. The water quality improves. It’s actually worth paddling on.”

All manner of paddling craft are welcome — canoes, kayaks, surf skis. Last year’s race had entrants from 18 states, plus Holland, England, Australia and South Africa. There are longer races, including some multi-day events, in the marathon paddling world, but this is the longest on the Mississippi River, Benoist said.

There is no prize money except, last year and this year, for breaking the four-hour barrier. Last year, the winning time by Mike Herbert of Rogers, Ark., was 4:15:55. Benoist expects the four-hour mark to fall, in part because of the talent the race has attracted, in part because the river current should be much faster than last year.

Using the current is a big part of race strategy. Finding the swiftest part of the current can add 4 to 6 mph to the paddler’s own efforts. Serious paddlers use GPS devices that record their speed to help them determine where the current is best.