Help Page
How to use SailDB -- for skippers. If you are interested in signing up to SailDB as a crew member, then click here instead.
Skippers
The first thing to do is create a profile. You can go to the profile page by clicking here. In your profile page you need to tell us your name, your email address and phone number, and choose a SailDB password for logging in to your account.
On the following pages, you will need to tell us about yourself (your profile). This can just be a few paragraphs about yourself, that the crew members can see when they are choosing their upcoming races.
Yachts
When you first register for SailDB you need to give us some information about your Yacht. The Your Yacht page will ask for the Yacht's name, the length, crew size, sail number, and a paragraph or so of other information about the yacht.
You also need to tell us about any of the clubs that you sail from. If your club is not listed on the Home Club list, then click the New Club button and you can add information about your club. You can also just click the New Club link at any time to tell us about any yacht clubs we don't currently have registered.
If you have more than one yacht, then you can add the others after you have registered using New Yacht on the Profile menu.
Searching for Crew
Searching for Crew and races is done under the Crew Matching menu. Just choose Find Crew on this menu and you can tell us about your vacancy.
For each vacancy you need to tell us:
- Which race / race series it is in (you can add a race or race series if yours is not shown)
- The date on which you need crew
- For each crew member, what position you are after (e.g. Bowman, trimmer, pit crew, etc), and what level of experience and qualifications you require.
You will then see which crew members currently registered with SailDB are available for your vacancies. Crew members will be shown if they are:
- Within the travel range of the club
- Meet your experience and qualification requirements
- Available to crew for the crewing position you are looking for
Status of any vacancies will be shown on this page, if for example you have already offered or declined a vacancy. Offering a vacancy to a crew member is as simple as clicking one of the links shown under each vacancy -- the crew member will be automatically notified if you decide to offer them a vacancy.
Periodically, you will be emailed about new crew members that appear on SailDB that are available for the vacancies you need. Again, just click one of the links in the email you receive from SailDB to offer one of the vacancies in the emails you receive, or to decline a vacancy if you have already filled it. Some times you may be emailed about several crew members applying for the same vacancy, in which case you will need to make a decision about which crew you offer the vacancy to.
Privacy
Your email address and phone number are never given out to crew on SailDB until after you have offered a vacancy. If you receive an email from SailDB enquiring about a vacancy on a yacht, your email address and phone number will be sent to the crew member only if you decide to offer that vacancy to that crew member. If you do not offer the vacancy then the crew member will be unable to receive your contact details.
Tips
Some tips for using SailDB effectively:
- Offer your vacancies well in advance of a race -- sometimes several new crew members will search the vacancy lists in a day, but often they will seek the first vacancy that appeals to them.
- Wait until you have heard back from a crew member that you have offered a vacancy to, before you close that vacancy. It may be the case that the crew member receives several offers for the same race and can only choose one of them.
- If you have marked a vacancy as not available, and then it becomes available again due to a cancellation or illness, just find the vacancy on the Show My Vacancies page and you can offer it again to other crew members who may be interested again, without having to re-list it.