Racing Crew Management Software

[b393capt]

What are racing sailboat owners using for crew management and communication (one or more applications)?  By crew management I mean:

- provide crews with a list of all the races in the season, update them when the list changes (ideally lets them import to their outlook/gmail calendar) 

- Keep track of who is available or committed to a race (yes, no, maybe) or let the crew enter that themselves, see if you meet the weight limits for a race

- Keep track of what commitments or position assignments you made to your crew, you know when you promised someone a shot at the helm, tactics, whip (what, you don't have a whip?), or any upgrade from rail meat. 

- Keep track of volunteer commitments for items on the boat (water, bagels, etc.), how many BBQ tickets you purchased for crew and their spouses, etc.

- Provide a website or mobile application where crew can go to get information about a specific race (links to NOR, Sailing Instructions, and post Race results)

- Send messages to your crew (Assurance those t-storms are not a reason to cancel, Race Cancelled, Location of After Party changed)

- Roster of email address, phone numbers, etc. such that crew can see each others contact info. (ideally updates your own smartphone contact list) 

- Place for crew to upload pictures back to captain and crew 

- Promote your team in search of additional crew

 

[planeray]

Doesn't cover everything like that, but https://Mysail.Team does a bunch of it. Just starting out in Australia the last couple of years, really meant more as a way to find crew/boats. But the founder, Deborah is really responsive and adding in features all the time. There are some great ideas there that would probably fit in nicely. It's also available as an app.

 

[trimfast]

Try TeamSnap. 

 

[WHK]

Try TeamSnap. 

Teamsnap is for soccer moms.  Crew Manager is for sailors!

Full disclosure - I used to use Teamsnap for my boat and decided to write Crew Manager when Teamsnap didn't respond to update requests to accommodate unique sailing requirements. Subscription costs are the less than Teamsnap Premium, but you get your own boat website and more features with Crew Manager. Crew Manager updates and enhancements are based on sailor inputs. Instead of supporting a big business, your subscription payment actually helps a sailor!  

 

[b393capt]

Teamsnap is ok.

Yes, http://crew-mgr.com/what-is-crew-manager/checks all the boxes, ideal for reducing the workload / reducing how good our memory has to be as we fairly manage our crews volunteer efforts as they share the sailing addiction with us.

 

[b393capt]

A crew management application, written by a Super Anarchist!

We should all be checking this out.

 

[Jubblies]

I use Air Table. Think of it as a spreadsheet on steroids. We had a mostly new team top to bottom this year and a heavy schedule. I had it set so that users could edit select fields and add themselves. I could also add a lot of other notes, and insert and store copies of the NRs and SIs so that the entire team had access. Although it's not a tool dedicated to sailing, it turned out to be a great tool. I'm sure I'm not using it to its highest abilities either.

 

[WHK]

A timely post!  The features that Jubblies describes about the spreadsheet on steroids in the post above are all included with Crew Manager.  Once a Skipper adds a user to the crew, each crew member may set their availability for all the events on the calendar.  The Skipper is automatically notified  about any changes in availability, and makes crew position assignments that are displayed on the crew list for each event.  The Skipper can posts links to race documents or upload documents and notes on the website.  Since it is blog based, comments are easily added to an event with pictures and uploaded documents so the post race recap is available for all to see and share. 

I just did a major Crew Manager software update over the past week and also updated the Skipper Manual and Crew Manual.  There is now an importer so a first time user may upload an Excel template to their schedule.  This is in addition to the importer available for the All in One Event Calendar by Timely.  After using Crew Manager for a season, the Annual Event Smartcopy allows a Skipper to selectively copy events to future years, shifting the dates so it aligns with a day of the week, or a fixed date. This saves a bunch of data entry. The schedule may be easily added for display on existing standard calendars the crew may have on their phones so it is dynamically updated and no need to retype the information.

Read this link on the Crew Manager website for an overview, and browse around the site to learn more. There are currently subscribers on both coasts with their own customized sites featuring an integrated schedule and automatic crew notifications.

A 60 day no cost free trial (no credit card required) is available.  PM me if interested.  If you are ready to sign up now, click this link for the new website with annual subscription.

Below is a screen shot from a recent event showing the format and content that is possible.  

 

[LionessRacing]

Gee we just use Facebook page www.facebook.com/Lioness981 and email....

 

[white74]

I have a spreadsheet on google sheets, works well, copied from Alex W 

 

[Alex W]

Here is a copy of my spreadsheet that is sanitized to remove real crew names:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1A9pTPykhAMcAMe9Ub5bwN1Q4CWc9_VcsYZuXpUURaes/edit#gid=0

A couple of features:

• Regular crew each gets their own column.  I hide columns if someone stops coming out on a regular basis because this spreadsheet also acts as my race log.
  
• If a guest comes along you can put a yes+1 or yes+2 in the column for their host to keep an accurate count
  
• On the crew page rows 52 and 53 have "email regulars" and "email all" that preformats a concatenated list of email addresses.  The regulars are ones with an X in the regular crew column.
  
• For distance races we temporarily make new tabs where we can work out carpooling, ground crew, food contributions, etc.
  

This spreadsheet works great for me.  It isn't as complex as real management software, but it has the advantage of being free, easy to use, and it works well from my phone or PC.  I like being able to reach out to my regular crew first and then text or email people in one-off fashion if I need to find a few more people to help out.

We also have a Facebook group.  I opened it up and we use that to share photos and stories, but not for reaching out to crew.  A number of my regular crew members don't use Facebook anymore anyway.

alex

 

[Lex Teredo]

TeamSnap but they screwed up the interface recently and made the app a lot less intuitive.  It's an 80% solution...

I think we may try Crew Manager this year. 

 

[b393capt]

Here is a copy of my spreadsheet that is sanitized to remove real crew names:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1A9pTPykhAMcAMe9Ub5bwN1Q4CWc9_VcsYZuXpUURaes/edit#gid=0

A couple of features:

• Regular crew each gets their own column.  I hide columns if someone stops coming out on a regular basis because this spreadsheet also acts as my race log.
  
• If a guest comes along you can put a yes+1 or yes+2 in the column for their host to keep an accurate count
  
• On the crew page rows 52 and 53 have "email regulars" and "email all" that preformats a concatenated list of email addresses.  The regulars are ones with an X in the regular crew column.
  
• For distance races we temporarily make new tabs where we can work out carpooling, ground crew, food contributions, etc.
  

This spreadsheet works great for me.  It isn't as complex as real management software, but it has the advantage of being free, easy to use, and it works well from my phone or PC.  I like being able to reach out to my regular crew first and then text or email people in one-off fashion if I need to find a few more people to help out.

We also have a Facebook group.  I opened it up and we use that to share photos and stories, but not for reaching out to crew.  A number of my regular crew members don't use Facebook anymore anyway.

alex

I like it!   Amazing what can be done for free.

 

[b393capt]

TeamSnap but they screwed up the interface recently and made the app a lot less intuitive.  It's an 80% solution...

I think we may try Crew Manager this year. 

I didn't see the recent changes to TeamSnap. I made the move to Crew Manager late-season and really happy.

I now get all of the capabilities below in one single application except for photos we share through dropbox. Note, Teamsnap helpfully provided a dropbox link of all my crew photos so I could take them out of TeamSnap. That was very thoughtful and helpful of Teamsnap.

Crew Manager also took four improvement suggestions I made over a period of four months, whereas TeamSnap took zero suggestions over a period of two years.

Crew Manager also continues to add sailing specific features, which TeamSnap does not, for example, they added features for the Newport Bermuda race and a more feature rich capability to create a template for generating emails to the crew, with a mail merge like capability that incorporates information from each race.

The original list of capabilities I was seeking last year, to reduce the time I need to keep track of details for races and enhance my communication with crew through website, email, and text messages. 
 

What are racing sailboat owners using for crew management and communication (one or more applications)?  By crew management I mean:

- provide crews with a list of all the races in the season, update them when the list changes (ideally lets them import to their outlook/gmail calendar) 

- Keep track of who is available or committed to a race (yes, no, maybe) or let the crew enter that themselves, see if you meet the weight limits for a race

- Keep track of what commitments or position assignments you made to your crew, you know when you promised someone a shot at the helm, tactics, whip (what, you don't have a whip?), or any upgrade from rail meat. 

- Keep track of volunteer commitments for items on the boat (water, bagels, etc.), how many BBQ tickets you purchased for crew and their spouses, etc.

- Provide a website or mobile application where crew can go to get information about a specific race (links to NOR, Sailing Instructions, and post Race results)

- Send messages to your crew (Assurance those t-storms are not a reason to cancel, Race Cancelled, Location of After Party changed)

- Roster of email address, phone numbers, etc. such that crew can see each others contact info. (ideally updates your own smartphone contact list) 

- Place for crew to upload pictures back to captain and crew 

- Promote your team in search of additional crew

 

[gn4478]

I started using Crew Manager and am very happy with it. The owner is very responsive to requests for modifications and it is helping significantly with logistics. It is a good value.

 

[b393capt]

Wow, you won't get this in TeamSnap  ...

In Crew Manager, there is a master list of events in the area. When I select from the list an event I will attend, it copies the event into my event calendar with fields pre-populated with the event name, the URL to the Event site, URL to the Notice of Race, URL to the payment link, and checks the box for PHRF or One Design. It then emails my crew that the new event exists. Very cool.

 

[WHK]

Thanks @gn4478 and @b393capt!  The calendar copy feature mentioned in the post above is merely a list of events all over where Crew Manager subscribers sail.  I did this as a "Crew Manager Master Sailing Calendar" and decided to add the copy feature so subscribers could easily copy selected events to their own site. 

The next step I'm working on will allow subscribers to copy an event from another subscribers site to their own site.  This way people can build a calendar in their own area and easily share events with each other to minimize data entry.  

@gn4478 is preparing his boat and crew for the Newport to Bermuda race.  Based on their input extra crew profile fields were added to track information needed for that race (and other races).  There are now optional crew fields the skipper may enable for Passport, Emergency Contact, Remote Accommodations and Delivery information.  The Skipper may run a custom report using check boxes to determine which fields to show in the report.  The custom report may also be downloaded in a CSV file that may be imported to Excel. Some will say that a spreadsheet will do the same thing.  Yes it will, but not as convenient since the information is on the server you don't worry if you have the correct spreadsheet version.  Google docs works well too and I use it for many things, but the data integration and crew notification features in Crew Manager are a real benefit.

Potential and existing subscribers - What feature don't you have that you wish you did?  The response to that is what drives Crew Manager upgrades and enhancements. Check the Request a Feature or Enhancement section on the Crew Manager Support Forum to see the types of things people have asked for.

 

[WHK]

Well the 2020 season started with a bust having most every event canceled with the coronavirus pandemic.  Many Crew Manager subscribers had most of the season scheduled and planned, only to have a significant number of events canceled as shown on the master calendar.  This past weekend, we had our 1st race of the season - a pursuit race.  Normally we would have a dozen races completed by now.

To help with managing the schedule, some of the Crew Manager subscribers asked for a way to easily annotate canceled events with custom notes, stop sending emails for canceled events, and the ability to hide canceled events when assigning crew. All these requests were incorporated into the software. I'm open to any feature request subscribers or potential subscribers want.

If any anarchists want a 30 day, no obligation (e.g. no need to provide a credit card) free trial, shoot me a pm.  Feel free to browse the Crew Manager site.

 

[George Hackett]

What are racing sailboat owners using for crew management and communication (one or more applications)?  By crew management I mean:

- provide crews with a list of all the races in the season, update them when the list changes (ideally lets them import to their outlook/gmail calendar) 

- Keep track of who is available or committed to a race (yes, no, maybe) or let the crew enter that themselves, see if you meet the weight limits for a race

- Keep track of what commitments or position assignments you made to your crew, you know when you promised someone a shot at the helm, tactics, whip (what, you don't have a whip?), or any upgrade from rail meat. 

- Keep track of volunteer commitments for items on the boat (water, bagels, etc.), how many BBQ tickets you purchased for crew and their spouses, etc.

- Provide a website or mobile application where crew can go to get information about a specific race (links to NOR, Sailing Instructions, and post Race results)

- Send messages to your crew (Assurance those t-storms are not a reason to cancel, Race Cancelled, Location of After Party changed)

- Roster of email address, phone numbers, etc. such that crew can see each others contact info. (ideally updates your own smartphone contact list) 

- Place for crew to upload pictures back to captain and crew 

- Promote your team in search of additional crew