Our Gigs

Our club currently own 6 Cornish Pilot Gigs -  three traditional wooden gigs for racing and three GRP plastic gigs which are used for training. 

Heart of Hayling was built for us in 2022 by Peter Williams in Fowey and her racing debut will be at the World Pilot Gig Championships in the Scillies in April 2023.  The club were amazed at the generosity of one of our members who gave us a donation to purchase this gig along with a trailer, oars and a gig cover!  Heart of Hayling will be our main racing gig.

Star of Northney was built for us in 2016 by Andrew Nancarrow of Truro and her racing debut was at Weymouth Regatta in May 2016. Funds were raised to purchase her by our generous members and friends of the club. She is our second racing boat and will be used regularly in competitions.

Spirit of Langstone (formerly Waterwitch from Charlestown) was built in 2003 by John and Dave Currach of Looe.  She will be used for endurance events, some racing and club training.

Seraph is a new addition to our training fleet and is on an extended loan from the Royal Navy. She has been painted in club colours and has been named after HMS Seraph and will ensure continued links with Hayling Island, our Gig Club and the Royal Navy who will use her from our location.

C Shel (formerly Jane D from Rock) was our first GRP training boat and named after one of our original founder members Shelley Cook.

Islander is our second GRP training gig and was purchased with a grant from Sport England.

C Shel, Islander and Seraph are used throughout the week and weekends for training and recreational rowing and are kept on a berth at Northney Marina for easy access.  

Gig rowing is as much about the history and the heritage of the beautiful boats as it is about the racing. As such our gigs need to be maintained regularly and this happens throughout the year. Whether it be a full rub down and fresh coat of paint, repairs to stretchers or keel bands, there always seems to be something that needs to be done to keep them in tip top condition. 

The Cornish Pilot Gig is a 6-oared rowing boat, built of Cornish narrow-leaf elm, 9.8m long and 1.47m wide, with a crew of 6 rowers and a coxswain.  The Cornish Pilot Gig has a long and hard-working history. In the early 1800’s there would have been around 200 gigs, sometimes under sail, to be found in use around the Cornish coastline. They were used to help larger vessels to navigate a safe passage, to trade with those same ships and to help rescue those in danger – stranded in remote or dangerous locations or jumping from sinking ships. They would have transported goods and people between the Isles of Scilly and the mainland but also to ferry smuggled contraband ashore. These workhorses of the sea were naturally expected to move fast about their work and a racing of sorts therefore ensued. The first to get to a ship would reap the various rewards – whether that be the pilotage fee or goods to trade.  With advances in boat building and maritime navigation, the use of Cornish Pilot Gigs largely died out, and the few remaining gigs were left to fall into disrepair.

Interest in Cornish Pilot Gigs in the UK has shown a huge resurgence in recent times, after a group of keen rowers rescued and refurbished some of the surviving gigs. Since the 1980’s, Gig rowing and racing has developed into a sport, giving new and more enjoyable incentives to get out on the water.  The sport has grown and grown and today there are nearly 150 gigs lining up on the start line at the World Pilot Gig Championships.

Gig clubs are mainly found in Cornwall and Devon, but have rapidly spread across the South of England.  There are now over 86 clubs in the UK with over 8000 active gig rowers. Further afield Cornish Pilot Gig racing clubs can be found in USA, Bermuda, Netherlands, and Ireland.

Cornish Pilot Gigs are regulated by the CPGA who ensure that all new wooden gigs are built to a very specific design - built of Cornish narrow leaf elm, 32 feet (9.8 m) long with a beam of 4 feet 10 inches (1.47 m). All newly built gigs are based on drawings by Ralph Bird, a Cornish boat builder, taken from the measurements of Treffry, a gig built in 1838 by William Peters of St. Mawes.  Treffry is currently owned by Newquay Rowing Club and is still frequently used to this day.