SAN BENITO — The city’s first-ever kayak race might receive the green light today.
Tonight, city commissioners are expected to approve the San Benito Rotary Club’s request to hold its first Resaca City Kayak Regatta at Heavin Resaca Park on April 29.
Organizer Mike Frazier said he expects 8,000 to 10,000 spectators will come to the banks of the resaca for “the largest kayak race south of San Antone.”
“Nobody has ever seen anything like this before,” Frazier said. “Nobody has ever put on a race like this before.”
Frazier said kayakers and visitors are coming from as far as Austin, Laredo and Victoria.
The San Benito Economic Development Corporation has given the club $10,000 to fund an advertising campaign promoting the regatta, a series of boat races typically featuring rowed or sailed watercraft.
“This is going to bring in folks from out of town and that means heads in beds,” Frazier said of the impact on area hotels.
Frazier said organizers have been working on the event since last year.
First, the San Benito irrigation district, which oversees the resaca, gave the club approval to hold the race.
“There hasn’t been many boats in this part of San Benito for 30 years,” Frazier said.
As part of the requirements, the club has to take out a $1 million insurance policy.
Frazier said he expects interest among kayakers to climb.
So far, he said, less than a dozen kayakers have entered the race.
“That doesn’t discourage us,” Frazier said. “Like any race, nobody does anything until the last couple of weeks.”
