In the late 17th century gigs were working boats in the South West and the Scillies, ferrying pilots out to incoming vessels to help them navigate through the rocks and safely into harbour.  The boats competed to get their pilot out first to the boat...and the fee.  Gigs also served other purposes along the English coast; salvage, smuggling and lifesaving, sometimes under sail but more often rowed by a crew of six. They needed to have length, lightness and flexibility to be manageable in extremely heavy seas.  Gig racing was born out of the competition to get pilots out to boats and from the testing of newly built gigs against others to measure their performance. 

But with the Industrial Revolution at the end of the 18th Century, sail and oar were replaced by engines, and competitive gig racing declined.  Gigs were left to rot or broken up (one was cut in two and used as a chicken house), or were put to service transporting wedding parties and carrying loads of cut flowers and potatoes from the Scillies to the mainland.  When the First World War broke out gig racing as a sport near enough ceased even in Newquay who, with the Scilly Isles, were one of the staunchest supporters of the sport.

Newquay Rowing Club

In 1921 men who had rowed gigs before the war felt it was time to revive the sport and the Newquay Rowing Club was formed. There were still three gigs in Newquay's ownership, all built by William Peters, whose name is synonymous with gigs and gig building; Newquay (built in 1812 and thought to be the oldest traditional rowing boat in the world.  She is still rowed by the NRC), Dove (built in 1820) and Treffry (left, built in 1838).  Peters considered Treffry his finest gig.

Racing continued until around 1929/30 when wider interest in the sport declined.  With the outbreak of the Second World War the gigs were kept watertight and prevented from drying out only because cadets used them for training.  But in 1947 the Newquay Rowing Club was reformed and gig racing once again became popular on the South West coast and Scillies.

Cornish Pilot Gig Association

In June 1986 Ralph Bird, the celebrated gig builder, and Newquay's George Northey agreed that as the sport was growing in popularity some specifications for gig builds should be laid down.  On 5th December 1986 a group of 14 interested parties met in Ralph Bird's front room and agreed a spec; length, beam, elm planking, no fibreglass. The only officer elected was the Chairperson, who would also do the measuring.  The following January, in the Royal Hotel, Truro, Ralph Bird's specifications (based on those of the Treffry built in 1838 by William Peters) were adopted as standard and the association was christened the Cornish Pilot Gig Association.  Membership of the CPGA today stands at 52 clubs, with 115 registered gigs.  Ralph Bird is now President and Life Member.