 Cadgwith
Pilot Gig Club race with our three gigs. "Buller",
"Socoa"
and "Rose of Cadgwith"
Gig
Racing
Cornish Pilot Gig racing is the fastest growing
community sport in the SouthWest with all
age groups taking part in regattas throughout
the spring and summer around the coast of
Devon and Cornwall.
Each
gig or boat built of Cornish narrow leaf elm,
32 feet long with a beam of four feet ten
inches. They have a crew of six rowers, male,
female and mixed, with the addition of a coxswain
at the helm of each boat to navigate.
The
first of Cadgwith's gigs is the "Buller".
"Buller" was built by the Devoran
Shipwright, Ralph Bird in 1986. She is a copy
of the famous gig "Treffry". She
got her name from a local, Richard Redvers
Arthur, otherwise known as Buller.
The
second of the gigs came along in the form
of "Socoa".
Built in 1990 by John Moore of Mevagissey.
"Socoa" was built as a sailing ship,
but is now used for rowing. She was named
after a French sailing ship that got stranded
off the Cadgwith coast in 1907.
The
last of the Cadgwith gigs is dedicated in
memory of two local Cadgwith fishermen, Tony
Culmer and Peter Williams, whose fishing vessel,
the "Karen Marie" sank off the Cadgwith
Cove in 1994.
Cadgwith
commemorate the lives of Peter and Tony by
holding races between the Cadgwith crews,
the Peter and Tony races.
The
"Rose of Cadgwith"
was built in 1994 and is currently the main
racing gig of Cadgwith.
A
gig, or pilot gig, is a 32 feet long clinker-built
rowing boat with six rowers and a cox. Although
many new boats have been built in recent years,
some have survived since the early 19th century
and are still in use.
The original gigs were used to take pilots
out to sailing ships as they approached the
Isles of Scilly or coast of Cornwall. The
first pilot aboard the ship got the job, so
the gigs evolved into very fast seagoing rowing
boats.
There are many gig clubs around Cornwall,
the Isles of Scilly, Devon and there are even
some overseas.

We've
attached the RISK
ASSESSMENT FORM
which ALL members are asked to read!
(this opens up a Word document
to download).
We've
also attached the PARENTAL
CONSENT FORM which the for Junoirs
are asked to get signed.
(this opens up a Word document
to download).

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