Who We Are

The six-oared Cornish Pilot Gig is a rowing boat steeped in the history of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Its history can be traced back to the 1790s, when it was used to take a pilot out to the square-riggers plying their trade around the Cornish coast and along the English Channel. Competition was rife between neighbouring ports, to get their pilot on board first, as this would secure the much-needed trade for their own villagers and it is in this tradition that the sport of gig racing has its roots. Pilot Gigs had to be built to withstand terrible weather conditions; this meant they were used many times in preference to the established lifeboats. There are many reports of them also being used to bring contraband into the Southwest from Brittany. In the St Austell area four oared gigs operated from Fowey, Charlestown, and Mevagissey and, according to local sources, several such boats were operating from Charlestown for the Coastguard around the turn of the 19th century.

The resurgence of Pilot Gigs came in the 1950s, with Newquay Rowing Club and the Isles of Scilly saving original Scillonian Gigs from being broken up for firewood. Tom Chudleigh built the first Gig of the twentieth century ‘Serica’ in 1967, but it wasn’t until 1985 that things really took off. Now there are over 120 new Gigs built in the traditional way. Most of these second generation Gigs are standardised to the dimensions of the Newquay Gig ‘Treffry’, built by the Peters family of St.Mawes in 1838, reportedly the best and longest Gig they ever built. She is 32 feet long, not less than 4 feet 9 inches amidships and not weighing less than 7cwt. Cornish Pilot Gig racing is now ingrained in everything that is Cornish. The whole look, feel, and construction of these beautiful boats exhibits the hundreds of years of tradition that goes before it.

Charlestown Rowing Club was formed on May 22nd 1990. A group of friends who had followed the sport of gig racing between Newquay and the Isles of Scilly for some years, and who were at that time rowing for the nearby village of Mevagissey, decided to try to form their own gig club in Charlestown. An open meeting was held at the Rashleigh Arms and from that meeting twenty men and women founded Charlestown Rowing Club. That was the easy bit! All that remained was to raise enough money to have a gig built. This was no mean feat as at that time a traditional clinker built pilot gig, plus trailer and six spruce oars cost approximately twelve thousand pounds but with grants and help from the local community it was achieved and our first gig, ‘Mystery’, was built in Portmellon by Peter Foard and was launched in 1991.