Section context
Put-ins, take-outs, distance, estimated time, canoe suitability, route character, and practical access notes.
UK-first canoe planning
RiverLaunch.app
Community-maintained river-section knowledge for paddlers: access points, hazards, photos, recent reports, and live level context in one place.
Sections
River stretches are the primary planning unit, not raw gauges.
Freshness
Reports, hazards, and access notes show age and confirmation state.
Wye first
The first pilot focuses on practical UK canoe touring sections.
Offline-ready
Contribution capture is designed for poor-signal river banks.
What it does
Answer the questions paddlers ask before they travel.
RiverLaunch is not trying to be a bigger gauge list. The product is a structured local knowledge layer that helps canoeists understand a real section before choosing it for a trip.
Level interpretation
Linked gauges and community runnable guidance help users interpret what a reading means for a specific section.
Community updates
Hazards, condition reports, photos, confirmations, disputes, and staleness indicators keep changing information visible.
Prototype screens
Built around the shared knowledge layer.
The current app prototype already models section pages, access points, hazard confirmations, local updates, favourites, profiles, moderation, and sync-ready contribution outboxes.
Screenshots show prototype and seed data. River and access information should be locally verified before public trip planning.
Application preview
Try the preview build.
The live application preview is hosted at staging.riverlaunch.app. It uses prototype and seed data, so treat it as a preview only, not as production river guidance.
First pilot
Starting with the River Wye.
The initial pilot uses a compact River Wye touring cluster where access, parking, campsites, take-outs, level interpretation, and recent hazards matter to open canoeists.
Seed useful sections
Glasbury to Hay-on-Wye, Hay-on-Wye to Whitney Bridge, Symonds Yat to Monmouth, and other practical touring sections.
Ask for local confirmation
Gauge relevance, runnable ranges, parking, access sensitivity, hazards, landings, and portages all need fresh local review.
Measure contribution quality
The validation test is whether paddlers add structured, useful information after paddling or scouting a section.
Product principle
Every trip should be able to improve the map.
RiverLaunch presents recent reports and known hazards with clear uncertainty. It avoids claiming that a river is safe, approved, or guaranteed.