Row HQ Launch Announcement

Row HQ is now accepting Canadian rowing clubs, university boat clubs, and school programs. Here is what it does and how we arrived here. The past year was spent building the platform alongside our pilot club, Oundle Town Rowing Club (OTRC) in the UK, pressure-testing every feature against actual club workflows. The result is a platform that is ready for Canadian clubs getting crews ready for the Royal Canadian Henley, OUA championships, CSSRA regattas, and provincial competition.

What is Row HQ?

Row HQ is a web-based rowing club management platform that brings training sessions, boat booking, crew lineups, member communication, events, and admin reporting under one login. It was built with a UK launch club and has local versions for Canada, the UK, US, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland. It runs on phones, tablets, and desktops - members use whatever they already have in their pocket.

The Journey to Launch

Row HQ came out of a simple observation: most rowing clubs still run on spreadsheets, paper sign-up sheets, and WhatsApp groups. That works up to a point. After that point things fall through the gaps - particularly when a crew needs to be assembled for a major regatta inside a two-week window.

Over the past year we worked closely with OTRC to map the specific friction points rowing clubs deal with. Coordinating training sessions across multiple squads, managing boat bookings without double-conflicts, tracking who actually showed up. The outcome is features built around how clubs actually operate - not around what looks impressive on a product page.

What features does Row HQ offer?

Row HQ addresses the workflows that eat a club committee's time. Session scheduling, boat booking with conflict prevention, drag-and-drop crew lineup builder, a self-service member portal, regatta and event management, CAD payment collection via Stripe, and an admin dashboard with attendance and financial reporting. Everything runs in a browser across phones, tablets, and desktops.

• Session management: Create, schedule, and run training sessions with crew suggestions generated from availability and skill data.
• Boat booking: Real-time equipment availability, conflict prevention, and usage tracking for every shell in the boathouse.
• Member portal: Self-service access so members book sessions, check schedules, and update their own availability without contacting the committee.
• Event management: Regatta entries, crew assignments, and event communication pulled into one place rather than spread across email threads.
• Analytics: Attendance tracking, boat utilisation reporting, and a real-time view of what is actually happening across the club.

Success with OTRC

Working alongside OTRC shaped the direction of Row HQ at every stage. Their feedback on what genuinely matters in day-to-day club operations kept development focused on practical problems rather than features that read well in a product brief. The full account is in our Oundle Town Rowing Club case study.

"What used to take hours of coordination just happens now. Coaches spend their time coaching instead of chasing availability, and members actually use the self-service features."

Our Commitment to Rowing Clubs

As we open to Canadian clubs, here is what we are committed to:

• Fair, transparent CAD pricing that scales with club size rather than punishing growth
• Personalised onboarding and training for your committee, coaches, and club captain
• Ongoing development driven by what clubs tell us they actually need
• Support from people who understand how rowing clubs work

What's Next?

This is the beginning. The roadmap includes:

• The Row HQ web app installs to the home screen from any phone browser and keeps getting better on mobile
• Deeper performance tracking and ergo analytics tied to crew selection
• Integrations with Canadian timing systems and RegattaCentral
• More coach tools for periodised training plan management
• Multi-club support for provincial associations and regional organisations

Every feature on the roadmap came from a club telling us what was missing. If something is not there for your Rowing Ontario club, your OUA program, or your community club on Martindale Pond, we want to hear about it.

Try Row HQ

If your club is still coordinating on spreadsheets and WhatsApp, take a look at what Row HQ does differently. Browse the screenshot gallery to see the platform in action, read the FAQ for common questions, or get started directly. Enquiries are open to clubs of any size across Canada.

Thank You

Thank you to everyone at OTRC who served as our pilot club and gave honest feedback through the early builds. Their input is what Row HQ is built from. Read what other clubs have to say on our testimonials page.

Less admin, more rowing.

- The Row HQ Team