Who this is for: coaches and team managers who take crews to regattas, and athletes who want to know what to expect. Features involved: Regattas, Regatta planner, Equipment, Communications, Waivers & Docs, RowStats, RiggerPlus
The regatta planner and USRowing integration are on the Professional plan; RowStats is on Standard and Professional. See pricing.
The problem
Three weeks out, the coach sends a "who's coming?" email and gets replies by text, email and in person. A spreadsheet tracks which athletes want which events, another tracks which boats go on the trailer, and nobody is sure whether every rower's USRowing waiver is current until the registration desk asks.
On race morning the schedule slips an hour. Sixty athletes and their families need to know, and the coach is on the dock with a phone.
How it works in Boathouse Connect
Each regatta gets one planner for your club. Athletes in the groups you allow say whether they are coming and which events interest them; coaches build race lineups from attending athletes and boats reserved for the trip, and check compliance in the same place. Athletes follow everything on their own regatta dashboard, messages go to everyone attending in one step, and after the regatta RowStats shows the official entries and results. The planner does not enter crews into the regatta — entries stay on RegattaCentral.
| Step | Where | Who does it |
|---|---|---|
| Find the regatta and create the planner | Regattas → Search → View Info → Create Regatta Planner | Coach (Create Practices) |
| Allow groups and track who is going | Planner Attendance tab | Planner admins |
| Say yes or no and pick interested events | Regattas → My Regattas | Athlete |
| Reserve boats and oars for the trip | Planner Equipment tab | Planner admins |
| Build race lineups | Planner Lineups tab | Planner admins |
| Check waivers, documents and SafeSport | Planner Compliance and USRowing tabs | Planner admins |
| Message everyone attending | Planner Communications tab | Planner admins |
| Follow the plan | Regatta Dashboard | Athlete |
| Review entries and results | RowStats → Team Regattas, RowStats → My Races | Coach, athlete |
Step by step
Three to four weeks out
- Create the planner. Open the regatta from Regattas → Search and click Create Regatta Planner. Set the Minimum Hot-Seat Time, Max Attendees, Attendance Lock Time and the equipment reservation window. Everyone with Create Practices at that moment becomes a Planner Admin User; add others later on the Settings tab. See Regatta planner.
- Work the to-do list. The Overview tab shows the countdown, the number of attending athletes and three tasks: Set Groups, Create Lineups and Check USRowing Waivers.
- Open attendance. On Attendance → Groups Allowed, add the groups that may go. Their members can now declare attendance until the lock time; Unknown Athletes shows who has not answered. See Regatta planner.
- Athletes respond. On Regattas → My Regattas, each athlete marks whether they are attending and uses Set Interested Events to request events. See Finding & attending regattas.
Two weeks out
- Reserve the equipment. On the planner's Equipment tab, add the boats and oars going to the regatta. The reservation blocks overlapping private reservations, so nobody books a boat that will be on the trailer. See Reservations.
- Build race lineups. The Events tab shows how many athletes are interested in each event. On Lineups, pick an event, a reserved boat and an entry letter, then seat attending athletes. Boats and athletes inside the hot-seat time are not offered. See Regatta planner.
- Plan the trailer. If you use RiggerPlus, sign in with your Boathouse Connect email and password, and plan load diagrams, routes and the driver itinerary there. See Trailers & trips (RiggerPlus).
The week before
- Check compliance. The Compliance tab shows each attending athlete's USRowing status, Outstanding Documents and SafeSport Status; the USRowing tab shows waiver and membership expiry dates. Chase anyone flagged — Boathouse Connect flags problems but does not stop anyone racing. See Staying compliant.
- Publish the logistics. Put the schedule, hotel and packing list in the Info Widget on the Settings tab; athletes see it on the dashboard's Announcements tab.
Race weekend
- Tell everyone at once. From the planner's Communications tab, Send Email or Send Text Message (140 characters) goes to every athlete attending the regatta. To include parents, send from Communications → Send Message to the group and tick its stakeholders (email only). See Sending email & text.
- Quick coordination. If your organization has chat turned on, a multi-user chat on Communications → Chat works for coaches and boat captains. See Chat.
Afterwards
- Review results. Once RegattaCentral publishes them, RowStats → Team Regattas shows your club's official entries, lineups and results, and athletes see their own races on RowStats → My Races. See RowStats.
What each person sees
| Person | What they see |
|---|---|
| Planner admin | Every planner tab for the planners they administer, from Regattas → My Planners. |
| Other coaches | Nothing in a planner until a planner admin adds them, even if they hold Create Practices. |
| Athlete | My Regattas and the regatta Dashboard: Announcements, Planned Entries, Communications (every message sent to attendees) and their USRowing status. |
| Parent or stakeholder | Only what you email them. A parent with their own account in an allowed group could declare attendance, so keep parents out of the groups you allow. |
Tips
- Set the Attendance Lock Time early enough to finalize lineups; planner admins can still change attendance after it locks.
- Reserve boats before building lineups — only boats reserved on the Equipment tab appear in Select Boat.
- Event interest is a request, not an entry. Agree entries with athletes before you register them on RegattaCentral.
- Use the planner's Communications tab for anything athletes must see; it is kept on every athlete's dashboard, including people who sign up late.
FAQ
Does Boathouse Connect enter our crews or pay entry fees? No. Enter crews on RegattaCentral. To bill athletes for entry fees, use Finances → Upload Charges; see Collecting season dues.
What if the regatta is not in the search? The regatta list comes from RegattaCentral. See Finding & attending regattas.
Can we plan travel, hotels and training in the planner? The Travel and Training tabs are not currently available. Put hotel details in the Info Widget, and use RiggerPlus for trailers and routes.
What if we are on the Standard plan? You get RowStats but not the planner. Use group messages, practice reservations and the Compliance page to run the trip by hand. See pricing.