Most clubs have a rough sense of which boats get used. Few have the data to back it up. When you start tracking outings properly, the numbers usually surprise you.
Common patterns we see
- The 80/20 fleet. 80% of outings happen in 20% of the boats. The rest are taking up rack space.
- The "good boat" tax. One or two boats are over-booked while equivalent boats sit unused, usually because of reputation rather than performance.
- Squad bottlenecks. A whole squad sharing two doubles when there's a third available, just nobody thought to look.
What to do with the data
Usage data isn't about catching anyone out. It's about making better decisions:
- Selling decisions. That boat with two outings in 2025 is taking up rack space and tying up insurance.
- Buying decisions. When you ask the committee for a new boat, "we logged 412 outings on the current eights last season" is a much stronger pitch than "we feel like we need one".
- Coaching decisions. A novice squad that's only using the heaviest tubs might be ready for the next step up.
Don't track for tracking's sake
Numbers are only useful if they change behaviour. Set yourself two or three questions you want the data to answer each season - and ignore the rest.