Privacy Policy

Last updated: August 27, 2026

The short version

Committee Boat HQ helps you run sailboat races. To do that we need a little information about you and your boat, and your location while you're racing. We don't sell your data, and we don't share it beyond what's needed to show a race to the fleet you're racing with.

What we collect

Account information

If you create an account, we store your name and email address so you can sign in and keep your race history. Racing as a guest skips this entirely.

Race & boat information

Race names, courses, boat names, sail numbers, and handicap ratings you enter. This is shared with the fleet racing with you so the leaderboard and results make sense.

Location

Location is the heart of the app. While you're in an active race, we use your phone's GPS to show your boat on the course and record your finish time. We only access location during a race, and you can stop it any time from your phone's settings. We don't track your location when you're not racing.

Health & workout data (Apple Watch)

This one never reaches us. When a race starts, the Apple Watch app records it as a sailing workout. That's what keeps the countdown readable with your wrist down — watchOS sleeps the screen otherwise, which is the last thing you want at thirty seconds — and it means the race lands in your Fitness app and counts toward your rings.

While that workout is running, the watch reads your heart rate and active energy to record it, and saves the finished workout to Apple Health on your device. None of it is sent to Committee Boat HQ. We don't receive it, store it, or share it — it stays on your watch and your phone, under your control, in the Health app. You can decline when the watch asks, or turn it off later in Settings › Health › Data Access & Devices › Committee Boat HQ. The countdown still works either way; it just won't stay lit as long.

How we use it

• To run the start sequence and show the fleet on a live course.
• To calculate finish and handicap-corrected results.
• To keep your personal race history if you have an account.
• To send you service messages — like a race you joined starting soon.

We do not use your data for advertising, and we don't sell or rent it to anyone.

Who can see your data

Your name, boat, and live position during a race are visible to others in that same race — that's how racing works. Outside of a race you've joined, your information isn't shared with other users. We use trusted service providers (for example, app hosting and crash reporting) who process data only on our behalf.

Data retention

Race results are kept so you and your fleet can look back on past races. Live location traces are retained only as long as needed to produce results and review a race, then aggregated or removed. You can delete your account and associated personal data at any time.

Your choices

• Location: grant or revoke location access in your phone's settings. The app only requests it during a race.
• Health data: the Apple Watch sailing workout is yours — revoke it in Settings › Health › Data Access & Devices. Nothing from it ever reaches us.
• Account: race as a guest, or delete your account and data on request.
• Notifications: turn race reminders on or off in settings.

Children

Committee Boat HQ isn't directed at children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect their personal information.

Changes to this policy

If we make meaningful changes, we'll update the date above and, where appropriate, let you know in the app. Continued use after a change means you accept the updated policy.