There were no sluggish starts when Tasmania's fastest snails went head-to-head in the hopes of winning the inaugural Cygnet Cup.

The charity event in southern Tasmania was won at a sizzling pace by Robert the 2nd, bred by culinary producer Huon Valley Snails.

Event organiser Harry Moses said Robert the 2nd may get a reprieve from the frying pan to contest the cup again next year. There was no mention of the fate of Robert the 1st.

And Mr Moses has tipped the producer as the breeder to watch.

"He's been successful in breeding, he's taken out the cup year one, he's a bit like a Bart Cummings I suppose, we'll see how he performs next year," he said.

About 100 people came out of their shells to attend the event, watching on as 50 snails competed in five races.

Mr Moses said it was an overwhelming success.

"You'd be surprised as to how thick the crowd got around the Cygnet Cup itself," he said.

"If you were out the back you couldn't see it at all, but we did beam it onto a screen in the shed."

In "the race that almost stops a nation", 10 snails start in an inner circle in the middle of a round tabletop and race about 30cm to an outer circle on the table's edge, with the first snail to cross the finish line crowned the winner.

Spectators could opt to "buy" a snail to race for them, with proceeds going to the local day-care centre.

Many snails came with decorated shells full of colour and patterns, although none of the more eye-catching competitors came out on top.

Snail number 13, Robert the 2nd, was the star performer, taking out two races, including the cup.

He also shaved plenty of time off the average race finish time of about five minutes, with Mr Moses estimating his cup win at about 3 minutes and 30 seconds.

Mr Moses said the idea of a snail race was brought up at a dinner party when guests began talking about the success of similar events overseas.

"That led to a very funny evening where we were just talking about the different scenarios and what have you," he said.

"It was all completely silly and out of hand and then we thought 'hang on, let's actually do this!'"

He said the aim of the event was to provide people of all ages with some innocent fun.

Organisers are looking forward to the running of the Cygnet Cup again next spring, but will firstly focus their attention on The Autumn Carnival and the running of the Golden Slither.