A river regatta has a lot of moving parts. You have patrol launches carrying umpires down the course, a starter and start marshals holding the bank and the water, a control commission processing boats, a finish timing team, and marshals at every chokepoint along the river. Coordinating all of that across a single spreadsheet — or worse, across several — is how things get missed. This guide walks you through setting up your entire umpire and marshal rota in EventRota, from the first click to the email your umpires receive the night before racing.
Step 1: Create your event
Log in to EventRota and click Create event. Give your regatta a name — something your officials will recognise in an email subject line, like "Avon Regatta 2026" rather than just "Regatta".
Set the event date. If your regatta runs across a Saturday and Sunday, set both days — EventRota treats each day as a separate block, so you can assign different people to Saturday and Sunday without duplicating your setup.
Under Sessions, add each distinct racing block. A typical river regatta might have:
- →Time Trial (AM)
- →Time Trial (PM)
- →Finals
If your regatta has a J16 evening session or a separate Masters programme, add those too. Sessions are how EventRota handles per-shift availability — your officials confirm which sessions they can cover, and you assign from people who are actually free.
Tip
If you run the same regatta every year, you can copy a previous event and update the date. All your positions carry over.
Step 2: Add positions and shifts
Positions are the roles you need to fill — Starter, Launch Umpire 1, Control Commission Head, Finish Marshal, and so on. Shifts connect each position to a specific session or time slot.
Start by adding every position your regatta requires. For a river regatta, this typically includes:
- →Starter
- →Start Marshal (bank)
- →Start Marshal (launch)
- →Marshal Below Start
- →Launch Umpire (add one per launch — e.g. Launch Umpire 1 through Launch Umpire 6)
- →Control Commission Head
- →Control Commission (add one per member slot you need to fill)
- →Athlete Weighing
- →Finish Marshal
- →Finish Timing (add one per person — Finish Timing 1 through Finish Timing 6 is common)
- →Radio Control
- →Car Park Marshal
- →Safety Launch
For each position, you set which sessions it covers. A Launch Umpire might be needed for both AM and PM sessions. The Athlete Weighing position often needs a shift that starts before the main programme — you can note that in the position description.
If you want to add a note to a position — for example, to flag that Launch Umpire 3 is a trainee slot, or that the Finish Timing positions meet at the timing hut at 7.45am — the description field is the place to do it. Your officials will see it when they view their assignment.
Tip
Once you have built your full position list, save it as a template. Next year's regatta takes seconds to set up — apply the template and every position reappears instantly.
Step 3: Add umpires and marshals, and send registration links
With your positions in place, the next step is getting your officials into the system so they can confirm their availability.
You have two ways to do this. The first is to add officials directly by entering their name and email address — useful if you are inviting specific qualified umpires who need a personal email. The second is to share a registration link: a URL that anyone can use to register for the event by entering their name, email, and availability. This is the faster option for large marshalling teams where you are recruiting broadly.
For a river regatta, a common approach is:
- →Send individual invitations to panel umpires — they receive a personal email and are added to your officials list
- →Share the registration link via your club's WhatsApp group or mailing list for marshals and car park volunteers
When officials register or are invited, they mark their availability per session — AM, PM, Finals, and so on. You see at a glance who is available for each slot before you begin building the rota.
If you already know who you want in each role, you can skip the availability step and assign people directly. But for events with a large pool of officials, collecting availability first means your rota will be accurate from the start.
Tip
Send the registration link at least three weeks before racing. Umpire panels and volunteer marshals fill up quickly, and late requests often come back incomplete.
Step 4: Place positions on the course map
EventRota lets you pin each position to a point on the map. When your umpires and marshals view their assignment, they see exactly where on the course their position is — the start pontoon, the control commission tent, the finish timing hut, or their launch mooring point.
This is particularly useful for river regattas, where the course may be unfamiliar to officials who haven't marshalled at that venue before. A bank marshal who is new to your regatta can see precisely where they need to be without needing to call anyone.
To add map pins, open each position and drop a pin on the satellite view of your course. You can zoom in to place pins accurately — on the pontoon, the specific bank location, or the road access point for car park marshals.
Positions worth pinning first:
- →Start and start marshal positions (including launch mooring)
- →Control commission tent
- →Finish line — pin the timing hut separately from the finish marshal bank position
- →Car park and accreditation points
- →Any bank marshal positions between start and finish
Officials see the map when they view their personal event page on their phone. They can zoom in, see all other pinned positions, and understand the full layout of the course alongside their own assignment.
Tip
Pin your safety launch position too — it helps everyone understand the safety coverage plan at a glance.
Step 5: Build the rota
Once availability is in and your positions are set up, you are ready to assign people to roles.
Open the rota view. You will see every position listed down the left side, with sessions across the top. Each unassigned slot shows you who is available for that session — people who have confirmed they are free appear highlighted. Assign someone to a position by selecting from the available pool.
A few things to watch for in a river regatta rota:
- →Umpires who are qualified for launches but not familiar with your course — use the notes field on their assignment to flag this, or put them on a bank or start position for the first session
- →Trainee umpires — assign them alongside an experienced umpire where possible and add a note to their slot
- →Officials who are covering more than one position across sessions — make sure they have a gap between sessions for travel along the course
- →Athlete weighing shifts that start before the main programme — check these are assigned and that the person knows about the early start
The rota view shows you a count of filled versus unfilled positions per session, so you can see at a glance where you still have gaps before you publish.
Tip
Assign your most safety-critical positions first — Starter, Safety Launch, and Finish Marshal — then fill the rest of the rota around them.
Step 6: Publish the rota
When your rota is complete — or at least complete enough to share — publish it. Publishing makes each official's assignment visible on their personal event page.
Before you publish, upload any documents your team needs:
- →Umpires' briefing notes
- →Regatta programme
- →River map or course diagram
- →Health and safety plan
- →Marshalling briefing for volunteers
Upload these to the event documents section. They will be accessible to all your officials once the rota goes live.
When you click Publish, EventRota sends a notification email to every official and volunteer on the rota. The email tells them their assignment has been confirmed and includes a link to their personal event page. From there they can see their positions, their session times, the course map, and download the event documents.
You can publish a partial rota — for example, if time trial assignments are confirmed but finals allocations are still being worked out. Officials only see what has been assigned to them at the point of publication. You can update and republish as plans change.
Tip
Aim to publish the rota at least five days before the event. Umpires and officials often need to arrange travel or swap other commitments — the earlier they have their assignment in writing, the fewer last-minute messages you receive.
What your umpires and marshals receive
From the moment you invite someone to the event through to race day, EventRota handles the emails automatically. Here is what each person receives at each stage.
When you send an invitation or share a registration link, officials receive a welcome email that explains the event name, date, and how to register their availability. The email includes a direct link to their registration page — no account or password needed.
When you publish the rota, every assigned official receives a confirmation email. The email includes:
- →Their name and the event name
- →Their assigned position or positions
- →The session or sessions they are covering
- →A link to their personal event page
On their personal event page, they can see their full schedule for the day, the course map with their position pinned, and any documents you have uploaded. If you post an announcement — a change to the programme, an updated start time, a briefing note — they receive a notification email with the message.
If you update the rota after publishing — reassigning someone, adding a position, changing a session time — the affected officials receive an updated confirmation automatically. You do not need to send a separate email.
The email your officials see the night before or morning of the event will be from their personal event page link — either saved in their inbox from when you published, or resent if you send an announcement. Make sure your event documents are uploaded and your positions are confirmed before you send any announcements, so the page is complete when they open it on race morning.