Your first event

Tutorial

This tutorial walks you through creating your first event in Dockside. By the end you will have a single-day club race that is published and visible to your sailors, ready for them to sign on.

The tutorial takes about 10 minutes. You will create an Open event, which is Dockside's name for a single day of racing. This is the most common kind of club event, so it is a good first one to set up.

Before you start

You will need:

  • Your club set up in Dockside.
  • The Official or Admin permission on that club.
  • About 10 minutes at a computer or tablet.

You do not need to set up boats or members first. You can create the event now and people can sign on later.

Step 1: Open the event form

Go to your club's page. If you have the Official or Admin permission, you will see a Create Event button near the top right of the page. Select it.

A club page with the Create Event button at the top right circled.

The Create New Event form opens. It is a single page with labelled sections that you scroll through, starting with Basic Details.

Step 2: Name the event and choose the organiser

Fill in the first two fields:

  1. In Event Name, enter a name for the event, for example Saturday Club Race.
  2. In Event Organiser, choose yourself from the list. Dockside selects you by default once the list has loaded. The organiser can approve registrations for Open events later.

You can leave Description and Location blank. If you leave the location blank, Dockside uses your club's address.

Step 3: Choose the event type

Find the Event Type field and choose Open.

The Event Type field set to Open.

An Open event is a single day of racing. When you choose Open, Dockside sets the end date to match the start date for you, so you only need to pick one date later.

You can skip the Categories section for now. Categories are an optional way to group events, and you do not need one for your first event.

Step 4: Set up scoring and classes

The Competition Setup section is where you decide how the race is scored and which boats can take part.

  1. In Scoring Type, choose Position. This scores boats by their finishing position, which is the simplest option.

The Scoring Type field set to Position.

  1. Leave Scoring Profile as it is. If your club has a recommended profile, Dockside selects it for you.
  2. In the Classes section, select Select classes, search for a class, and tick at least one, for example ILCA 7.

The class picker with one class selected.

A racing event needs at least one class, so you cannot create the event until you have ticked one.

Step 5: Choose who can register

The Registration & Access section controls who can enter and how they sign on.

  1. In Membership Requirement, choose No membership required. This lets anyone enter, which keeps your first event simple.
  2. In Sign-on Method, choose Online. Sailors will sign on through Dockside before racing.

Step 6: Set the date and schedule

The Race Schedule section is where you set when racing happens.

  1. In Start Date, choose the date of your race.
  2. In First Gun Time, set the time of the first start. The first gun is the first start signal of the day. The default is 1400.
  3. In Races Per Day, enter how many races you plan to run, for example 2.

The Race Days Preview below updates to show the race day you have set up. Leave the Event Status field alone — every new event is created as a draft, and you will publish it in Step 8.

Step 7: Create the event

Select Create Event at the bottom of the form.

Dockside saves the event, shows the message Event created successfully, and takes you to the event's page. At the top you will see an amber notice that reads Event is in Draft Status. This is expected — a draft is not visible to your sailors yet.

Step 8: Publish the event

To make the event visible, publish it:

  1. On the event page, select Edit Event, near the top right.

The event page with the Edit Event button at the top right circled.

  1. Open the Basic tab, find Status, and choose Published. (On the edit screen this field is labelled Status, not Event Status.)

The edit screen with the Status field, currently Draft, circled.

  1. Select Save.

Go back to the event's page. The draft notice has gone, and the event is now visible to your sailors.

What you just did

In the last 10 minutes you:

  • Created a single-day Open event for your club
  • Set how it is scored and which class can take part
  • Chose how sailors register and sign on
  • Published the event so sailors can see it

What to try next

  • To run a season of racing rather than a single day, create a Series event instead of an Open one. A Series repeats on the same day each week.
  • When you are ready, sailors can sign on for the event online.