Did any athletes on your team, or parents at your food tent, lose track of things during a full day of regatta-ing this fall?

Well, a lot of programs have come up with a pretty good hack for that--The Race Day Whiteboard--so you might want to hack up one for your team before Race Day rolls around again.

We've seen dozens of these in our travels, and they pop up all the time in the row2k scene galleries. Especially popular/useful at junior races, the Race Day Whiteboard can do a lot of heavy lifting to keep things running smoothly when a given team's trailer might have a hundred kids rolling through during the regatta day who need to know where they should be, and when.

It can also come in handy at the parent tent, and teams that really want to keep everyone on "board" during the day have one board at the trailer and another at the food tent.

Some versions go way beyond the simple stuff like race number and what time to launch. A really complicated Race Day Whiteboard will have boat names, oar info, lineups, and even a spot for results as the regatta day goes along.

Results included, on this board

We've even spotted boards with athlete headshots mounted on magnets, so parents can see who is who in the lineup (and the board in that link showcases another important bit of Race Day info: the code for the porta-potty).

Coaches who really like to plan ahead can even throw a trailer-loading diagram up on the board, so the boats go back on the right way--giving those coaches an edge in the really important race of the regatta: the end-of-the-day, let's-get-out-of-here trailer race.

The genius of this hack, of course, is that all your Race Day info changes from week to week, and even if all the details are on their phones, nothing beats a whiteboard for keeping important info front and center for athletes whose phones are packed away as they get ready to race.

We have it on good authority that this Race Day Whiteboard version of the HOCR map is copyrighted; we spotted it in "The Lot"

Will we spot your Race Day Whiteboard next regatta season? We sure hope so, and we can't wait to see your take on this hack.

Do you have a clever trick that makes Race Day roll along slickly for your team? If so, share your ideas--and hacks--in the comments below.

If you have a great rowing hack to suggest for future inclusion, then please send it to us and we will feature your idea in a future column.

PS, don't forget the key bit of this hack: keeping the whiteboard updated!