Boats will be hitting the water today at Seahawk Park for the Cape Coral Rotary Club’s wildly popular Cardboard Boat Regatta. Today’s regatta marks the 14th consecutive year for the event.

Twenty-three boats are expected to compete this year, a number that’s down from previous races. Event organizer Bill Shallbetter said businesses are being hit hard by the economic crunch, but this year’s regatta will have boats piloted by a Boy Scout troop and Rotary sponsored clubs from Ida Baker and Cape high schools to make up for the lack of business sponsored vessels.

“This is the fun event of the summer,” Shallbetter said. “We’re going to kick the summer off with a fun day. It doesn’t look to be real hot, and there’s going to be a nice breeze blowing.”

Participants compete in multiple categories, being awarded trophies at the regatta’s conclusion.

Past races always seemed to feature the “most spectacular sinking,” though no such category or trophy exists. Shallbetter said previous boat builders actually set out to make boats that sink in grand fashion, using false bottoms and pyrotechnics.

So imaginations don’t run too wild, the Rotary has come up with a set of rules for participants to follow. These rules level the playing field and keep boats from becoming too good, by using things like wood, styrofoam, or metal to aid flotation.

Started in 1994 by the Nauti-skippers Boat Club, the contest has evolved from a non-commercial race featuring Nauti-skippers and rival boat club members, into a wide open spectator event with multiple sponsorship levels. Twenty-five hundred people are expected to attend.

Shallbetter said that one of the great things about the regatta was to “see the ingenuity of how people have built their cardboard boats.”

Also a family event, the Regatta will feature plenty of activities for for kids, including face painting, an inflatable slide, and a rock climbing wall. People also will be able to use Lee County voting machines to make their selection for favorite boat entry.

“We do have things for the kids. This is a family fun event,” Shallbetter stressed. “We’ve got food, we’ve got drinks, we’ve got beer. We’ve got something for everybody.”

The Cape Coral Rotary Club’s annual Cardboard Boat Regatta is today, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at Seahawk Park in North Cape Coral. Seahawk Park is located at1030 NW 28th Terrace.