A boat-building clinic will be held Saturday at the Longview Woman’s Club building for participants in the Great Cardboard Boat Regatta®.

Regatta Coordinator Terry Mathias is flying in from Illinois to lead the cardboard boat-building clinic, which will be held at 10 a.m. at the Woman’s Club, 835 21st Ave. The training is expected to last about an hour, with time afterward for questions.

The regatta, which will be held at Lake Sacajawea during the Go 4th Festival, is sponsored by The Daily News and Longview Fibre. Longview’s regatta marks the first time the Great Cardboard Boat Regatta®, an officially sanctioned event dreamed up at Southern Illinois University in 1974, will be held on the West Coast.

The point of the regatta is to build a full-sized boat entirely of cardboard that can travel a 200-yard course. Crews may consist of one to eight people. Special trophies and bragging rights will be awarded to winners of categories including most creative design, most attractive boat, team spirit, best-dressed team and most spectacular sinking. Registration is free. Copies of the official rules (which may not be posted online because they’re copyrighted) are available at The Daily News.

Longview Fibre has donated 1,350 sheets of 200-pound-strength cardboard so far for boat builders. A final cardboard giveaway will be next Wednesday at The Daily News.

Click here to view a photo gallery of similar events across the country

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