Rowing club incident reporting software, built around British Rowing's process

What British Rowing actually asks for

British Rowing's guidance is clear and worth knowing whether or not you use BoatLog: incidents should be reported online within 24 hours of the incident. That covers anything that causes harm or damage, however trivial, any injury or health issue, and — importantly — near misses, because they often flag a risk before it causes something worse. Reports can be made by clubs, members, non-members and event organisers.

A complete report needs a detailed summary (date, time, boat IDs, crew, light, wind and stream conditions), a sketch of where boats and obstructions were and which way everyone was travelling, statements from anyone involved or who witnessed it, details of any injuries and first aid given, and what the club is doing to stop it happening again. It's the club's Rowing Safety Adviser and committee who are responsible for making sure members know what counts as reportable and how to do it.

Where BoatLog fits

The hardest part of a good incident report usually isn't the writing — it's the details that get lost between "it happened on the water" and "someone sits down to write it up." Who was in the boat. What time it actually was. What the conditions were like. BoatLog lets whoever's involved log those details against the outing itself, at the boathouse, while they're still fresh — because every incident starts from an outing that was already signed out and, ideally, already RAG-flagged for conditions.

From there, your Rowing Safety Adviser has an accurate starting point to complete British Rowing's own report within the 24-hour window, rather than chasing crew members for their recollection days later.

What BoatLog is not

To be clear: BoatLog does not submit anything to British Rowing, does not replace their incident reporting portal, and is not an official British Rowing product. If you take one thing from this page, make it this — report every incident and near miss to British Rowing directly, within 24 hours, using their system. BoatLog is there to make sure your club has the details ready when you do.

The rest of BoatLog's safety picture

Incident reporting is one part of a wider set of safety tools — see how RAG flags and overdue-outing alerts work, and how it all starts with an accurate boat sign-out. If you want a plain-language walkthrough of the whole reporting process, read our guide: British Rowing incident reporting — a club's step-by-step guide.