Pilot Gig Racing at Portscatho

When we visited Porscatho on Saturday afternoon it was the Roseland Gig Club Regatta. Fifteen crews from across Cornwall were attending. We saw crews from Padstow and St Ives attending. The weather was very good for sea rowing with very little swell. We arrived in time to see the last race.


Crews Landing after a race


Crews from Truro and Caradon departing for a race

It was great fun with lots of crews and their followers lining the shore. When I raced on the sea back in the 1960s around Cardiff and Swansea in places like the Mumbles and Penarth, we rowed in standard racing fours over straight courses. Gigs, without sliding seats and clinker built are very much heavier and the courses include turning around buoys. We saw some gigs being loaded onto trailers. It took quite a team to lift them. A crew from Falmouth towed their boat backed home using a RIB. I saw them passing Zone Point near St Anthony Head. Looked a better bet than going by road.


A Gig from the Charlestown Rowing Club, St Austell

There is a excellent website devoted to the sport and an offical site.