Eleven finish 410-mile kayak race

BERWICK — Four individuals and two teams completed a grueling addition to the annual Tour du Teche kayak and canoe race that finished Sunday in Berwick.
This year, Tour du Teche VI organizers added two new ultra-marathon races, the Tour de la Rivière Rouge, 275 miles from Shreveport-Bossier City to Port Barre, and the 410 de Louisiane, 410 miles from Shreveport-Bossier City to Berwick, according to an article by Ken Grissom of Louisiana State Newspapers.
The inaugural 410 de Louisiane race went well with six individuals, a two-person team and five-person team finishing the race, Trey Snyder, race director, said. The race began Sept. 26 in Shreveport on the Red River, while the Tour du Teche 135-mile race began Friday.
The Tour du Teche covered the entire length of Bayou Teche in southwestern Louisiana including small sections of Bayou Courtableau and the Atchafalaya River, according to the race’s website.
A total of 73 boats signed up for all the races, which was about 15 more than last year, Snyder said.
The final leg of the race started Sunday morning in Franklin and finished in Berwick on the Lower Atchafalaya River.
David Dupree, 52, of Rayville, won the solo double-blade paddle division of the 410-mile race in a time of 124 hours, 32 minutes and 17 seconds.
Dupree had previously done some long races “but nothing like this,” he said. He completed a 340-mile race this summer on the Missouri River in 45 hours due to the fast flow of that river.
The Red River portion of the 410 de Louisiane took him over 90 hours. “It was no flow. It was tough,” Dupree said.
Dupree had finished the Tour du Teche 135 several times so he knew what to expect “but the Red (River) was a killer,” he said.
“It was a great experience, though. I’ll do it again next time,” Dupree said. He spends a lot of time training for races. “Some people run. I kayak,” Dupree said.
He may try to complete the Tour du Teche “triple crown,” which consists of doing the 410-mile race and then doing the 275-mile race and 135-mile race as stand-alone races in subsequent years, he said.
The Tour du Teche 135 saw two course record times in 2015, one in the solo single blade paddle division and another in the “big boat” racing division from a team of five competitors.
Tommy Yonley, 36, of Houston, finished the solo single blade paddle race with a record time of 20 hours, 58 minutes and 36 seconds, while the five-person team of Wendell Smith, Bobby Smart, Chris Champion, Phil Bowman and Heather Harrison completed the 135 miles in a record 19 hours, 7 minutes and 34 seconds. The five-competitor team also finished the 410 de Louisiane.
“That means the level of competition is increasing,” Snyder said. “The class of this sport is coming to our race now, so that’s really neat to see.”
Gerry Fischer, 48, of New Iberia, won the Tour du Teche 135 voyager division, which was for more novice kayakers, he said.
Fischer placed second last year and came back this year with a better kayak. The racing conditions were a little worse than last year with the wind and temperatures, he said.
“Today was like freezing cold. I just had a tank top on all day,” Fischer said. He plans to race again next year and hopes for the next 25 years, he said laughing.
The Tour du Teche has “a really great community of kayakers. It seems to be small but they’re kind of from all over the country and apparently even somebody from Canada,” Fischer said.
Organizers plan to hold the 410-mile race again next year, Snyder said.
“We’re going to see who shows up. ... It’s a grueling marathon,” Snyder said.
The race’s website actually crashed last week because so many people visited the website to watch where the racers were through GPS tracking, Snyder said.
“We hope that’s a sign of more people wanting to do it next year,” Snyder said.

This story was written by Zachary Fitzgerald of The Daily Review staff. Reach him at zfitzgerald@daily-review.com.