Homemade ‘boats’ to gather for 6th annual Sandcreek Regatta

By Zach Hagadone
Reader Staff

The Sandcreek Cup is getting dusty in the Reader’s office window, which means it’s time for the Sandcreek Regatta boat race — this year marking its sixth annual run up and down the eponymous waterway on Saturday, Sept. 6.

For those not in the know, the regatta is a contest of do-it-yourself boat building, with watercraft cobbled together from whatever crews can find and pitted against one another for a furious, human-powered paddle starting under the Bridge Street Bridge to the Cedar Street Bridge and back.

There are only a few rules: all boats — and “boat” is used in a strictly academic sense — must be homemade (that is, you can’t just show up with a modified canoe, kayak or even last year’s regatta craft); the vessel must be 100% human-powered (no motors); and all ages are welcome, but there has to be at least one person aboard who is 18 or older. 

Also, bring your personal floatation devices and be ready to race sometime around 10:30 a.m. or 11 a.m. Regardless, the assembly point is in the parking lot before the entrance to City Beach — south of Bridge Street — at 10 a.m., from which all boats will be launched before lining up under the Bridge Street Bridge.

Spectators are more than welcome, since the crews need some encouragement, as well as witnesses either to their glory or the ignominy of capsizing, sinking or otherwise getting wet.

Resurrected from the “Businessmen’s Race” of Sandpoint’s past by organizers Jon and Amanda Knepper, the event is free to enter (just show up with your craft and you’re in the race) and features a range of trophies — including the Sandcreek Cup, which the Reader has won more times than not since the inaugural race in 2019.

“The cup will be passed, and we’ll have some extra trophies for the typical awards: ‘Most Epic Fail,’ ‘Most recycled,’” Jon Knepper said.

For the first time this year, the Sandcreek Regatta will kick off with a ceremonial “sacrifice,” when a volunteer tourist will be (gently) pushed into the creek as thanks for a successful summer and to ensure an epic winter. The “victim” will be awarded with a specially made T-shirt and other gifts, courtesy of the Reader.

“That’s fantastic. I love it,” Knepper said of the sacrificial offering.

Win, lose or sink, there will be an after-party at Idaho Pour Authority (203 Cedar St., in downtown Sandpoint), where crews, their friends, family and anyone else who feels like attending will toast one another.

“We’re very happy to see the Sandcreek Regatta sticking with the community — I think it’s going to be around for a long time,” Knepper said.