Quick answer: iCrew and Regatta Central are rowing-native tools built around the specific needs of the sport: lineups, equipment, membership, and regatta registration. They are strong at exactly those jobs. CrewLAB is the newer all-in-one that runs the whole club, registration, payments, communication, and coaching, in one modern app. Many rowing clubs use a regatta tool for events but are looking to consolidate day-to-day club operations and payments into something less fragmented and more transparent on fees.
Where iCrew and Regatta Central win
- Rowing-native features. Lineups, equipment and boat management, and regatta registration built specifically for the sport.
- Event and membership workflows. Regatta Central is deep on regatta registration and membership; iCrew on club rowing ops.
If your immediate need is running a regatta or the rowing-specific ops, these tools are purpose-built.
Where CrewLAB wins
- The whole club in one app. Registration, payments, communication, and coaching together, not just rowing ops or event registration.
- Transparent, integrated payments. Payments tied to registration and reconcilable, versus the opaque, hard-to-predict fees rowing admins complain about. For some clubs, the push to evaluate an all-in-one comes from wanting clearer, consolidated pricing.
- Modern UX and communication. Parent-visible, MAAPP-aligned messaging and a modern app, versus dated interfaces.
- Multi-sport-ready. Rowing-native but not rowing-only.
Real switching triggers we’ve heard
- Fee transparency (Regatta Central). Per-event and per-seat fees that can stack across a season, with platform pricing that isn’t public.
- Fragmentation. Bouncing between a regatta tool, a comms tool, and a spreadsheet.
- Dated UX and the desire to consolidate.
Side by side
CrewLAB | iCrew | Regatta Central | |
|---|---|---|---|
Scope | Whole club | Rowing club ops | Regatta/membership |
Lineups / equipment | Deep, modern | Deep | Limited |
Regatta registration | Basic | Some | Deep |
Payments | Integrated, transparent | Limited | Per-event + per-seat fees; platform pricing not public |
Communication | In-app, MAAPP-aligned | Limited | Limited |
UX | Modern | Dated | Dated |
FAQ
What’s the best software for a rowing club?
For regattas specifically, Regatta Central; for rowing ops, iCrew. To run the whole club, registration, payments, comms, and coaching, in one modern app, CrewLAB.
Can CrewLAB replace Regatta Central?
For day-to-day club operations and payments, yes. For large-scale regatta event hosting, many clubs still use a dedicated regatta tool alongside. Verify your event needs.
Why do rowing clubs leave Regatta Central?
Common reasons are fee transparency — per-event and per-seat fees that can stack, with pricing that isn’t public — and wanting to consolidate club operations in one place.
From the coaching side, Simon Hoadley, co-founder and head coach: I’m a rowing coach, so I will give the rowing tools their due. For running a regatta, they are purpose-built. But most clubs I talk to are tired of bouncing between a regatta tool, a comms app, and a spreadsheet, and tired of per-event fees that stack up. Rowing is our roots, 2,000+ rowing teams, and we partner with USRowing, Rowing Canada, and Rowing New Zealand. We built CrewLAB to run the club day-to-day, not just on race day.
Next step
See how CrewLAB runs the whole club — registration, payments, communication, and coaching — in one place.
Prefer to talk it through? Book a discovery call.
Related: Stop losing money to uncollected payments · Why running a club is so much paperwork
