Who this is for: members who row outside scheduled practices, coaches, and the people who set the club's reservation rules. Permission required: Check out equipment to make and cancel reservations. Equipment Usage Hours & Group Permissions to change reservation settings and blackout times.
A reservation holds equipment for a period of time so two people never plan to take out the same boat. Boathouse Connect has three kinds:
| Type | Created by | Limits apply? |
|---|---|---|
| Private | A member booking equipment for their own row. | Yes — the club's reservation settings and blackout times. |
| Practice | Automatically, whenever a practice is scheduled. Coaches add equipment to it. | No. |
| Regatta | Automatically, when a regatta planner is created. | No. |
Practice and regatta reservations take priority in the sense that the private limits never stop a coach from holding equipment for the team. Equipment already held by any reservation is not offered to anyone else for overlapping times.
Make a private reservation
- Go to Equipment → Reservations and click New Reservation.
- Set the Reservation Start and Reservation End.
- Under Select equipment you wish to reserve, open Boats, Oars and Ergometers and tick what you need. Only equipment that is free for the whole period is listed. Boats also have to be Available, open to one of your groups (see Your inventory) and outside any blackout time.
- Check the Reservation Restrictions panel, which shows your club's current limits.
- Click Next. The Confirm Equipment Selections screen warns you about mismatched or missing oars — for example a sculling boat with sweep oars, or not enough oars for the boats you picked.
- Click Confirm Selections. Each item is reserved in turn and marked as it succeeds. If one fails, the message explains which limit was hit.
- Optionally add Notes (who you are rowing with, the workout) and click Exit.
Don't see the equipment you want? Change the start and end time. The lists only show equipment that is free for the entire period you entered.
View and cancel reservations
Equipment → Reservations has two views, switched with the Block and List buttons.
- Block shows three panels: My Reservations (your own upcoming ones), Next 24 Hours and Upcoming (other people's reservations).
- List shows All Reservations with Upcoming and Past tabs. Filter by Type (Private, Practice, Regatta), Name, Start Date From / Start Date To and Equipment, or click Clear Filters.
Click a reservation to open View Reservation: its type, who reserved it, the duration, the boats, oars and ergs held, and the notes. On your own private reservations a Cancel Reservation button releases the equipment.
Practice and regatta reservations
Every practice gets its own reservation covering the practice's start and end time. To hold equipment for it, use the Reserve Equipment button for that practice on Practices → Manage; the Equipment Reserved window lists what is already held. A regatta planner gets a reservation for the dates set on the planner, and equipment is added on the planner's Equipment tab. See Creating & managing practices and The regatta planner.
Who can edit them: a private reservation can only be changed or cancelled by the person who made it. Practice and regatta reservations belong to the club: any coach with the required permission can add or remove equipment, whoever created the practice or planner. Deleting a practice also deletes its equipment reservation.
Reservation settings
Go to Equipment → Settings. The page is titled Private Equipment Reservation Settings and has two tabs. Changes save as soon as you leave a field.
Personal Limits
| Setting | Unit | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Max Reservation Time | Minutes | Longest private reservation allowed. |
| Maximum Lead Time | Days | How far ahead a reservation may start. A week or less avoids conflicts with practices and equipment going out of service. Decimals allowed. |
| Minimum Lead Time | Hours | How much notice is required before a reservation starts. Use it if you want advance warning of who is taking equipment out. Decimals allowed. |
| 7-day limit | Number of Reservations | Most private reservations one person may hold in a rolling 7-day window. Stops one athlete hoarding equipment. |
| 14-day limit | Number of Reservations | The same, for a rolling 14-day window. |
Set any field to 0 for no limit. A minimum lead time of 0 allows right-now reservations.
These limits apply only to private reservations — never to practices or regattas.
Blackout Times
A blackout is a weekly period when a boat cannot be reserved privately, such as the hours your juniors practice. Coaches can still use the boat for practices and regattas during a blackout.
- On the Blackout Times tab click Add Blackout Time.
- Choose the Boat, or Fleet-wide Blackout to block every boat.
- Choose the Day of the Week, Start of Blackout Period and End of Blackout Period, then click Add Blackout Time.
Existing Blackout Times lists them all; filter by boat, and click X to remove one. Blackouts apply to boats only, not to oars or ergs.
FAQ
I don't see Reservations in the menu. You need Check out equipment. Ask an administrator which group grants it — see Roles & permissions.
I got "Too many reservations in a 7-day period". You have reached the club's 7-day (or 14-day) limit. The message tells you the limit and how many you currently have. Cancel one you no longer need, or ask your equipment manager.
I got "Start time is too soon" or "too far away". Your reservation breaks the club's minimum or maximum lead time. Check the Reservation Restrictions panel in the new reservation window.
Can I change the time of my reservation? Cancel it and make a new one with the right times.
Why is a boat missing even though nobody has reserved it? It may be Out Of Service or Archived, closed to your groups, or covered by a blackout time.