Organizations hosting a regatta in BC must follow Rowing Canada Aviron’s Event Sanction Policy and submit a Sanction Application in order to have the event sanctioned. Sanction allows the regatta to be covered by RCA insurance and officiated by RCA Umpires. Umpires are responsible for keeping regattas both safe and fair for all participants.
Submitting a Sanction Application
All Sanction Applications are submitted online through the RCA Web Registration System. To submit a Sanction Application, log on to your personal account in the system. At the top of the “My Account” page is a red button to “Propose an Event“. This will lead you through the sanction application process.
In accordance with RCA regulations, Local Organizing Committees (LOCs) are required to work with assigned Chief Umpires in the development of sanctioning materials. Rowing BC is working hard to ensure that regattas are connected with an assigned CU as early as possible. If you have not received the name of your event’s CU please contact the Rowing BC Umpire Committee (ucommittee@rowingbc.ca).
An application can be saved as a draft as long as there is something in each of the fields – even just one character. To return to a previously saved application, log on to the system and scroll to the bottom of your “My Account” page. There is a section for your proposed events where you will be able to re-open an application.
Once an application has been submitted, you will no longer be able to edit it. An automated alert will be sent from the RCA Web Registration System notifying Rowing BC staff that your application has been submitted.
Sanction Approval
Your sanction application will be reviewed by the Rowing BC Regatta Committee. If the committee has questions about your application, someone will reach out to you for further clarification. When the committee is confident that your application is ready for approval, a recommendation stating as much will be sent to the Rowing BC Board of Directors for final approval. You will be notified directly from the RCA Web Registration System when your sanction application has been approved.
Sanctioning in BC is reviewed on a set quarterly basis as listed in the table below. LOCs are responsible to submit their sanctioning documentation in accordance with this timeline. LOCs are welcome to submit their application ahead of schedule to allow the event to be visible on Regatta Central even longer.
Application Timeline
| Event Date | Submission Deadline | Review Date | Decision Announcement |
| Jan/Feb/Mar 2024 | Dec. 1, 2023 | Week of Dec. 4 | Week of Dec. 11 |
| April/May/June 2024 | Feb. 16, 2024 | Week of Feb. 19 | Week of Feb. 26 |
| Jul/Aug/Sept 2024 | Mar. 29, 2024 | Week of Apr. 1 | Week of Apr. 8 |
| Oct/Nov/Dec 2024 | Aug. 9, 2024 | Week of Aug. 12 | Week of Aug. 19 |
The resources below are intended to assist Local Organizing Committees in the process of preparing a regatta sanction application, or while planning aspects of the regatta:
Regatta Central
Regatta Central is the registration website that all events across Canada are required to use. When your sanction application is received by staff, Rowing BC will trigger your event details to be shared with Regatta Central. This will allow you to begin creating the registration website. No registrations can be processed until full sanction is approved. For help setting up the event details in Regatta Central, contact regattacentral@rowingcanada.org.
Regatta Fees
All sanctioned events in BC will be assessed Rowing BC Seat Fees for participants at a rate of $3.50 per seat (for clarity, this fee is applied once per athlete per event entered). The fee will be auto-calculated through the RegattaCentral system.
For support with any aspect of this process, please reach out to memberservices@rowingbc.ca
As action steps from the Rowing BC Competition Review, LOCs are encouraged to be informed of, and try to include, the following initiatives in their regatta planning:
Following the regatta, the Chief Umpire will complete an Event Report which will be shared with the Rowing BC office and the Local Organizing Committee. This report provides an opportunity for feedback and discussion between the Local Organizing Committee and the Chief Umpire.
Rowing BC is invested in helping LOCs across the province continue to improve the regattas they are able to host. To assist in this process, a regatta feedback tool has also been created and can be found here. LOCs are encouraged to include a link to this feedback tool in their regatta package and any post-event information that is shared.
Events for the purpose of a social gathering do not likely require a sanction application. For more information or questions, please contact memberservices@rowingbc.ca