The Cornish pilot gig is a six-oar

rowing boat Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically att ...

clinker-built Clinker-built, also known as lapstrake-built, is a method of boat building in which the edges of longitudinal (lengthwise-running) hull (watercraft), hull planks overlap each other. The technique originated in Northern Europe, with the first know ...

of Cornish narrow-leaf elm, long with a beam of . It is recognised as one of the first shore-based lifeboats that went to vessels in distress, with the earliest recorded rescues dating to the late 17th century. The original purpose of the Cornish pilot gig was as a general work boat, and the craft was used as a

pilot boat A pilot boat is a type of boat used to transport maritime pilots between land and the inbound or outbound ships that they are piloting. Pilot boats were once sailing boats that had to be fast because the first pilot to reach the incoming ship ...

, taking

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

s out to incoming vessels off the Atlantic Coast. At the time, pilots would compete with each other for work; the gig crew who got their pilot on board a vessel first would get the job, and hence the payment. There is a World Pilot Gig championship held in the Isles of Scilly each year at the beginning of May.

History

According to Richard Gillis, the first Cornish pilot gig was built at Polvarth, St Mawes in 1790 by the Peters family. The maritime historian Basil Greenhill simply states that little is known about the origins of this type. The working gig was planked with narrow-leaf elm from carefully selected trees. This was hand-sawn into quarter-inch (6.4 mm) thick planks, a job done with a high degree of accuracy. American elm was usually used for the keel and timbers, though some were built with oak keels. The overall length of most working gigs varied between ; the length was limited by the size of tree that could be found, since the Peters family (the major builder) insisted on no more than one scarph per strake. Whilst most had a beam, those intended for salvage work or general carrying would have more, with some examples ranging from up to or more. As experience of gigs developed, they were built with a slight upward bend in the thwarts (by installing a pillar down to the keel), so that if the boat received a sharp blow to the side, the thwart could flex upwards a little instead of punching through the side of the hull and doing serious damage. Early gigs were built with very high quality copper nails and roves whose durability was not matched by those used in later years. The working gig had a two-masted sailing rigusually a dipping or standing lug on the main and a standing lug or spritsail on the mizzen. The oars were made of ash and were long, in some instances . These were optimised for long-distance rowing and were used with a slower stroke than today's racing boats (which have shorter silver spruce oars). The work for gigs ranged from taking pilots out to ships, salvage work, visiting damaged ships to get them to book repairs at the shipyard that owned the gig, taking out cargo samplers to grain ships (the quality of the sample was used in selling the cargo) and a range of miscellaneous transport tasks. Wherever more than one gig was heading out to any speculative job, they were racing for the work as it was customary for the ship's captain to employ the first to arrive. This could involve various subterfuges to overcome the competition. A night-time departure may involve a gig crew setting off down the street to their boat in their stockinged feet so as not to wake another crew. St Mawes gigs would position themselves in a cove from which they could see Falmouth gigs departingthis gave them a head start if the Falmouth boat was heading for a desirable-looking target.

Pilot gigs today

Today, pilot gigs are used primarily for sport, with around 100 clubs across the globe. The main concentration is within

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

and the

Isles of Scilly The Isles of Scilly ( ; ) are a small archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, Isles of Scilly, St Agnes, is over farther south than the most southerly point of the Great Britain, British mainla ...

, however clubs exist in

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

and

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Internationally, there are pilot gig clubs in France, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

, Australia,

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

, and the United States. All modern racing gigs are based on the '' Treffry'', built in 1838 by William Peters of

St Mawes St Mawes () is a village on the end of the Roseland Peninsula, in the eastern side of Falmouth, Cornwall, Falmouth harbour, on the south coast of Cornwall, England. The village, formerly two separate hamlets, lies on the east bank of the Carri ...

, and still owned and raced by the

Newquay Newquay ( ; ) is a town on the north coast in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is a civil parishes in England, civil parish, seaside resort, regional centre for aerospace industries with an airport and a spaceport, and a fishing port on t ...

Rowing Club. She was built for the Treffry Company, new owners of Newquay harbour. However non-racing gigs have been built which do not conform to the exact specification of the ''Treffry'' and are disallowed from racing in competitive races. Golden Eagle pilot gig 02

The sport is governed by the Cornish Pilot Gig Association, which monitors all racing gigs during the construction phase. The Association's Standards Officer is responsible for measuring every gig at least three times during construction, to ensure that it conforms to the Standard set by the Association. Gigs are crewed by six rowers, and helmed by a

coxswain The coxswain ( or ) is the person in charge of a boat, particularly its navigation and steering. The etymology of the word gives a literal meaning of "boat servant" since it comes from ''cock'', referring to the wiktionary:cockboat, cockboat, a ...

. Modern gig racing dates from 1986, the founding of the CPGA, and the codification of class rules for the construction of new gigs. In 2018 the 200th gig was registered on the CPGA register, built by W.C. Hunkin and Sons of

Fowey Fowey ( ; , meaning ''beech trees'') is a port town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the mouth of the River Fowey in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town has been in existence since well before the Norman invasion, ...

. A new gig, complete with trailer and all equipment, costs over £32,000. From 2017, the CPGA has encouraged a 'Club In A Box' scheme. This includes a

fibreglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass ( Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass c ...

gig, which is much cheaper than a traditionally-built wooden gig and allows a club to form and begin training and fundraising for a competitive boat. As of 2023, pilot gig racing is becoming more popular in the United States, especially on the

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

coast where

whaling Whaling is the hunting of whales for their products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that was important in the Industrial Revolution. Whaling was practiced as an organized industry as early as 875 AD. By the 16t ...

was a major industry. These boats, however, are less regulated than their British counterparts. While modern rowing technology is considered inappropriate, there are no strict rules as to what can and cannot be raced. Boats are classed by number of rowers and their approximate age. The rules are also different during the race; generally "fisherman's rules" apply—meaning that there are no rules. Recently (2024), there has been a demand for more readily available information about gig rowing, leading to the creation of the 'GigRower' website. This website, along with their social media pages, work with the CPGA to provide gig rowing news, information, and live streams of championships to the increasing number of gig rowers around the globe.

World championships

Since 1990, the

World Pilot Gig Championships The World Pilot Gig Championships are an annual gig racing event held on the Isles of Scilly, United Kingdom during the May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, ...

have been held annually on the Isles of Scilly. Held over the Early May bank holiday weekend, they are attended by over 2000 rowers and spectators. It is widely believed to be the busiest weekend on the islands, with an approximate doubling of population.

Pilot gig clubs

Pilot gig clubs are mostly located by the

sea A sea is a large body of salt water. There are particular seas and the sea. The sea commonly refers to the ocean, the interconnected body of seawaters that spans most of Earth. Particular seas are either marginal seas, second-order section ...

although there some that have been established at

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

side locations. Pilot gig clubs might also have other types of rowing and sailing vessels. The majority of clubs are in the

West Country The West Country is a loosely defined area within southwest England, usually taken to include the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Bristol, with some considering it to extend to all or parts of Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and ...

, however clubs exist in Suffolk, Sussex, Somerset,

and

. Internationally, there are pilot gig clubs in France, the

, the

, Australia,

, and the United States. Many pilot gig clubs compete with each other through a series of events through the summer in the West Country, most notably at

. This is held at the Isle of Scilly, due to its prevalence there, as well as the historical impact the Isle of Scilly have on the sport. Other, more specific championships are held throughout the year at different clubs across the West Country, normally coinciding with "regattas" held by the clubs, which run mainly on an invitational basis. 88 pilot gig clubs are members of the Cornish Pilot Gig Association.

References

External links