As a new regatta director, most of us start by saying "holy crud, what have I gotten myself into?" This is quickly followed by "what do I need to do to put on a head race?"

Unfortunately, there is no one right answer. Every race is different. You may be running a well-established race with a traditional structure, standard goals, volunteers who have held the same position for 20 years, and sponsors who throw money at you like it is Halloween candy. You might be running a brand new race in a brand new organization with inexperienced staff and resources you hope are adequate. You may have friendly surroundings or hostile ones, a generous budget or a lean one, and a wide variety of competitors. So the first thing you need to do is decide what type of race you want to put on. The clearer you define your goals, the more likely you are to achieve them. You aren't going to pull a 6:30 erg if you don't train for it, and putting on a successful head race is much the same way.

Ask yourself the following questions to help define your regatta, and your structure and tasks will flow from your definition.

• What is your Local Organizing Committee's goal for the race?
  • To make money
  • to give local rowers a chance to race
  • to give new rowers a chance to race
  • to raise money for charity
  • to have a fun day on the water
  • to bring the community together
  • to to host a national regatta
  • etc.
• Who are your target competitors?
  • Elite rowers
  • Colleges (varsity)
  • Colleges (club)
  • Juniors/high school
  • Masters
  • A specific combination of these
  • Anyone who wants to show up and pay the money
• How many entries can you have?
  • How many can your venue hold per day?
  • How many days of racing do you want to have?
  • How many hours per day do you want to race?
  • What time do you want to start and end?
  • This will lead to a total number of entries
• What sort of races do you want to offer?
• Scull and/or sweep?
• Focusing on small boats and/or large ones?
• What races do your target competitors want to compete in?
• What are your staffing needs?
  • Professional vs. volunteer timing
  • Number of refs and launch drivers
  • Number of people at the registration desk
  • Dock masters, parking attendants, errand runners, sponsor herders, etc
• What are your costs?
  • Venue rental and permits
  • Police/coast guard/medic/safety
  • Regatta central fees
  • publicity
  • transportation
  • prizes (if any)
  • Infrastructure (tents, radios, first aid equipment, food for volunteers, printing costs, launches, generators, gasoline, lighting, etc)

When you have clear answers to each of these questions, you have the basic outline of your regatta. Now you have to start on the details!