When an event is full, join the waitlist. It’s not a formality; on most crews waitlisted paddlers get in regularly.

How it works:

1. The event is full, so you join the waitlist behind anyone already on it.
2. Someone with a seat cancels.
3. The person at the top moves into the seat automatically and gets an email straight away.
4. Everyone else moves up one place.

You are now signed up. Promotion isn’t an offer to accept. You hold the seat. If you can’t take it, cancel like anyone else so it passes to the next person.

Your coach can reorder the waitlist when someone has a genuine claim on the next seat. Reordering changes the queue only; it never puts anyone straight into the boat past a confirmed paddler.

This is why your email matters. A promotion at 4pm for a 6pm practice does you no good if you find out at 7. If you’re waitlisted for something you want, watch your inbox that day.

Late cancellations mean late promotions. Someone drops an hour before the event, the promotion goes out an hour before the event, and realistically the person at the top may not see it. That’s a reason to cancel early rather than a system failure.