Tour du Teche starts Friday

Staff Report
Tour du Teche IV, a 135-mile, three-day race for kayaks and canoes down Bayou Teche, begins Friday in Port Barre and ends Sunday in Berwick.
Pre-race events at Port Barre are planned Thursday.
St. Martinville, finish line for Day 1, is keeping the party going with La Grande Boucherie des Cajuns on Saturday. And at Franklin, finish for Day 2, paddlers and their support crews will be able to enjoy the annual Harvest Moon Festival. Berwick also puts on a street fair at the finish line Sunday.
Tour du Teche attracts paddlers from all over the country and beyond as well as growing number from around Louisiana. To accommodate beginning or recreational paddlers, there’s the Voyager Division of Tour du Teche and five one-day races for Voyageurs.
Tour du Teche starts at Port Barre Friday with a finish 49 miles later in St. Martinville. Saturday’s 59-mile race starts in St. Martinville and ends in Franklin. The toughest part of the race is only 27 miles but by Sunday strength and resolve are sapped and the bayou is wide and windswept here, subject to contrary tides from the nearby Gulf of Mexico. The race ends on the Atchafalaya River at Berwick.
The one-day races are the Crawfish, 34 miles from Port Barre to Breaux Bridge, and the Acadian, 49 miles from Port Barre to St. Martinville, on Friday.
Saturday, the Hot Sauce is 25 miles from St. Martinville to New Iberia, and the Sugar, 59 miles from St. Martinville to Franklin.
And on Sunday, the Oil & Gas is 27 miles from Franklin to Berwick.
Voyageurs and short races start at 7 a.m. The Racing Division, which pays winners in cash prizes, starts at 9 a.m. each day.
Entry fees per paddler are $125 for Racers, $80 for Voyageurs and $60 for one-day races.
The Oregon Street Boat Launch in Berwick will be closed all day Sunday for the Tour du Teche Canoe Race.
The Voyageur Division, including the one-day racers, is for TDT cypress paddle trophies.
Tour du Teche is a non-profit dedicated to promoting the low-impact recreational use, protection and appreciation of Bayou Teche.
Call Executive Director Nicole Patin at 337-789-0319 or Director General Ken Grissom at 337-394-6232 for more information.