BoatRun iconBoatRun
BoatRun icon First time using BoatRun
5 minutes

Quick Start

The short version. Do the first-time setup once, then follow the steps for whichever role you are. Everything is already set to sensible defaults — you don't need to change any settings.

On this page

  1. Install the app
  2. First-time setup
  3. Row or Cox
  4. Erg
  5. Coach
  6. Reviewing a session
  7. Analyser
  8. When you're ready for more

1. Install the app

Download on the App Store Get for Android — free early access

iPhone users install BoatRun from the App Store. Android users email their Google account address and get the Google Play link back.

2. First-time setup

  1. Open the app and pick a role You'll see ROW COX COACH ERG. Tap whichever you are. You can change it any time in HOME → SETTINGS. Not ready to go rowing? Tap one of the TRY A DEMO buttons instead — it replays a real session so you can look around.
  2. Allow the permissions it asks for Motion sensors, location and Bluetooth. The app can't measure anything without them.
  3. Sign in — step 1 of 2 Tap SIGN IN · STEP 1 OF 2 on the launch screen, or Sign in at the top right of HOME. Use Apple or Google — and use the same one on every phone and in the Analyser.
  4. Link Google Drive — step 2 of 2 It's offered straight after step 1; the button reads LINK DRIVE · STEP 2 OF 2 until it's done. Every session then saves to a private folder in your own Drive. Your workouts, calendar, sectors, stroke templates, lanes and hazards also sync through Drive between the app, the Analyser and any other phone. There's nothing to export or import.

Want fewer buttons? HOME → SETTINGS → SIMPLE gives you Pace, Rate, DPS and HR and not much else. Your data is recorded the same either way.

3. Row or Cox

On the water

Do the connecting on land, before you push off. Row: the phone faces the stern, towards you. Cox: it faces the bow.

  1. Go to the LIVE tab and use the chips at the top Before you start, the top of the screen shows ♥ HR SQUAD WORKOUT VIDEO. Tap a chip to set that thing up. Grey = offGreen = readyAmber = used last time, not ready now If you press Start with an amber chip, BoatRun offers to connect it, or you can tap Start Anyway.
  2. ♥ HR — if you wear a heart rate strap Put the strap on first (it needs skin contact to wake up), then tap the chip.
  3. SQUAD — only if a coach is watching Enter the code your coach gives you, or SCAN QR, and your name. Skip it if you're on your own — it uses extra battery.
  4. WORKOUT — if you want a structured piece Pick a workout. If one is planned on your calendar for today, the app offers it when you open it.
  5. Mount the phone Flat, screen up, within 30° of level, and firmly fixed to the boat — not loose. Portrait or landscape both work.
  6. Sit still for a few seconds, then tap Start There's no calibration step — the app sets itself up from the quietest few seconds before Start. Sitting still first gives it a clean reading. You're recording. Row.
  7. Use Lap to split up your session Lap — split nowLap Ready — boat stoppedReady — waiting for you While moving, Lap marks a split there and then. Sitting still, the button turns light blue and reads Lap Ready. Tap it and the lap is armed but the clock is held — it turns green, reads Ready, and starts by itself after a couple of strokes. Tap the green Ready to start the lap straight away instead.
  8. Tap LOCK to stop spray changing the screen Locks out splashes and accidental touches. Slide to unlock.
  9. Finishing up Stop → Finish Session → give it a name. It saves and uploads to your Drive on its own.

4. Erg

Concept2 PM5

No phone mounting — the erg supplies the numbers. Pick the ERG role first.

  1. Wake the PM5, then connect Press a button on the monitor or take a stroke so it's awake, then tap CONNECT ERG and pick your PM5. The PM5 pill turns green.
  2. Heart rate — pair the strap to the erg, not the phone On the PM5: Menu → More Options → Utilities → Heart Rate and pick your strap. BoatRun reads it through the erg, and the ♥ HR chip turns green.
  3. SQUAD chip — if your coach is running one Tap SQUAD and enter the code.
  4. Either load a workout, or just row Tap WORKOUT and pick one — it's pushed onto the monitor, which then runs the piece and ends it for you. Or start rowing with no workout loaded, and press Menu on the PM5 when you're done.
  5. Finish Session and save

5. Coach

Launch or bank

Your crews send their live data to a squad code. You watch it. Pick the COACH role first.

  1. Get a squad code HOME → SETTINGS → CREATE A NEW SQUAD for your own code, or use the open test code AAAAAAA for a first try.
  2. Connect to it, and give the code to your rowers Everyone — you included — must be on the same code. SHOW QR lets them scan it off your phone.
  3. COACH tab — every boat on the map, one tile each Tap a boat's tile for its detail. Hold a tile to choose which metrics the tiles show.
  4. SQUAD tab, phone upright — every boat listed
  5. SQUAD tab, phone turned sideways — race mode Boats on a race track with the gaps between them. This is the one for pieces.
  6. INTERVALS tab — the results table Every piece each crew has done. LAP ALL BOATS splits the whole squad at once.

A squad link drains the phones' batteries all session. Keep the coach phone on charge in the launch.

6. Reviewing a session

HOME → LOG. CALENDAR shows your sessions and planned workouts by day; SESSIONS is the full list. Tap any session to see its detail — splits, rate, distance, heart rate, stroke curve and map.

Changing phones? Sign in on the new phone with the same account and link the same Drive — your sessions, workouts and everything else come back on their own.

7. Analyser — the big-screen version

Open the Analyser

Open it in a browser on a laptop or tablet. Nothing to install.

  1. Sign in, then link Google Drive Sign in · Step 1 of 2 with the same Apple or Google account as your phone, then Link Google Drive · Step 2 of 2.
  2. Open a session Click it on the calendar or in the Sessions list.
  3. Click a summary card to show or hide that metric The cards across the top switch what the main chart is showing.
  4. Drag across part of the chart, then tap ＋ Add to curves That averages the stroke curve for just that stretch. Do it again on another stretch to compare them side by side — start of the piece against the end, before a change against after.

8. When you're ready for more

All in the full guide. Most of these need Pro.

Stuck?

The Troubleshooting section of the full User Guide covers the common problems. Anything else, email bigwig.91mash@icloud.com.