To some people building a raft to race down the river might seem odd but in Wagga it’s anything but thanks to the World Championship Gumi Race.

This year organisers (South Wagga Apex) have made a few changes in a bid to attract more than 100 teams to the water on March 2. 

The weekend has moved from February to March, the day from a Sunday to a Saturday afternoon and the entry fee has been waived.

“We want to encourage more competitors and spectators,” South Wagga Apex secretary David Rosetta said.

“We have waived the registration fees to try to get more people involved and enjoy the beautiful river that Wagga has."

There will also be just two start times and four race categories this year to simplify the start process.

Juniors and family teams start at 12.30pm, and the business and defence challenge and open section start at 1pm.  

All rafts still leave Eunony Bridge Reserve with teams encouraged to arrive at least one hour before start time.

This unique Wagga event has a rich history after starting in 1976. 

Just 16 teams took to the water that year. One year later there were 119 teams.

“The Gumi race is a very Wagga event,” Mr Rosetta said.

“​It used to be a week-long festival. There were horse races at the MTC, a Gumi tennis tournament and a Gumi street parade where entrants marched down the main street proudly with their Gumi rafts.”

While they aren't planning a revival of the entire festival, organisers are hoping to get numbers back to more than 100. 

The rules for creating a raft are simple: “means of flotation must be 80 per cent inner tubes” and it must be manually propelled.

Typically it takes about two hours to get to Wagga beach but some teams will do it much faster.

“Last year we had a team finish in 42 minutes,” Mr Rosetta said.

“It was four guys pedalling bike pedals that turned a propeller so they flew through the water.”

One unfortunate participant, almost didn’t make it past the starting line.

“There was a guy with an exercise bike on a tube," Mr Rosetta said.

“He put it in the water, got on and it sunk. With a few quick modifications he was able to complete the race.”

​On the day teams will arrive at Wagga beach between 1.30pm and 3pm with presentations at 4pm.

Entertainment will continue into the evening with a Cork and Fork festival from 2pm to 10pm.

There will also be a jumping castle and water slide set up to entertain the kids.

For more information go to the website or search Wagga Gumi on Facebook.