World Pilot Gig Championships

Pilot gig boats on the beach in Hugh Town, St Mary's, Isles of Scilly in 2018
Race underway south of Tresco

The World Pilot Gig Championships are an annual gig racing event held on the Isles of Scilly, United Kingdom during the May Day bank holiday weekend.

The World Championships were first held in 1990, only attracting a few crews from Cornwall, but over the years the amount of pilot gigs attending has increased with crews coming from all over the South of England, the Netherlands, Ireland, France and beyond.[1]

Races

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There are multiple races that take place over the weekend, of varying distance, all starting on the Friday night. The women's and men's Veterans (40+) and Super Veterans (50+) races take place on Friday evening, while the four Open races take place on Saturday and Sunday. Traditionally a sailing race is held on the Monday along with an Isles of Scilly vs Mainland rugby union match.

St Agnes

The longest race is from the island of St. Agnes down to the finish line just off the quay of St. Mary's (approx 1.6 nautical miles). Both Veterans and Super Veterans races follow this course to decide the winner of the trophy for these categories.

On the Saturday the women and men race separately, with a full line up of gigs. In 2019 163 gigs were on the women's start line with 160 crews competing in the men's race. The finishing positions from the St. Agnes course determine the seedings for the subsequent heats.

Nut Rock

Each gig is seeded based on the St. Agnes race and the heats are split into groups of 12 for the race from Nut Rock back to St. Mary's (approx 1.1 nautical miles). Two heats are held - one on Saturday and one of Sunday morning - with the top two gigs in each group being promoted and the bottom two relegated.

The finals for both the women and men take place on the Sunday afternoon, again racing the same Nut Rock course. Each group then has a winner and the outcome of group A decides who is the overall champions.

Results

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Women's Results

Year 1st Place 2nd Place 3rd Place
1990 Newquay Padstow Fowey
1991 Isles of Scilly Roseland Newquay
1992 Isles of Scilly Padstow Newquay
1993 Newquay Isles of Scilly Fowey
1994 Fowey Isles of Scilly Falmouth
1995 Falmouth Port Isaac Isles of Scilly
1996 Fowey Falmouth Truro
1997 Falmouth Fowey Isles of Scilly
1998 Falmouth KWV De-Kaag (Netherlands) Isles of Scilly
1999 KWV De-Kaag (Netherlands) Falmouth Charlestown
2000 Isles of Scilly KWV De-Kaag (Netherlands) Falmouth
2001 Isles of Scilly Par Bay KWV De-Kaag (Netherlands)
2002 Falmouth Isles of Scilly Mounts Bay
2003 Isles of Scilly KWV De-Kaag (Netherlands) Salcombe
2004 Falmouth Isles of Scilly Charlestown
2005 Falmouth Isles of Scilly Caradon
2006 Falmouth Mounts Bay Caradon
2007 Falmouth Roseland Caradon
2008 Falmouth Charlestown Roseland
2009 Roseland Falmouth Mounts Bay
2010 Falmouth Roseland Scheveningen (Netherlands)
2011 Falmouth Scheveningen (Netherlands) Charlestown
2012 Falmouth Isles of Scilly (St Mary's) Par Bay
2013 Falmouth Mounts Bay Caradon
2014[2] Falmouth Isles of Scilly (St Mary’s) Roseland
2015 Newquay Mounts Bay Roseland
2016[3] Caradon Flushing and Mylor Isles of Scilly (St Mary's)
2017[4] Caradon Fowey Isles of Scilly (St Mary's)
2018[5] Caradon Falmouth Mounts Bay
2019[6] Falmouth Caradon Scheveningen

Men's Results

Year 1st Place 2nd Place 3rd Place
1990 Truro Isles of Scilly Isles of Scilly
1991 Isles of Scilly Fowey Truro
1992 Isles of Scilly Truro Isles of Scilly
1993 Isles of Scilly Truro Isles of Scilly
1994 Isles of Scilly Hayle Caradon
1995 Caradon Isles of Scilly Par Bay
1996 Caradon Truro Roseland
1997 Caradon Roseland Par Bay
1998 Caradon Par Bay Roseland
1999 Caradon Isles of Scilly Par Bay
2000 Caradon Roseland KWV De-Kaag (Netherlands)
2001 Caradon Roseland Falmouth
2002 Falmouth Caradon Rame
2003 Caradon Rame Isles of Scilly
2004 Caradon Falmouth Caradon B
2005 Caradon Caradon B Par Bay
2006 Caradon Roseland Caradon B
2007 Caradon Roseland Par Bay
2008 Mounts Bay Par Bay Roseland
2009 Par Bay Caradon Falmouth
2010 Par Bay Caradon Mounts Bay
2011 Falmouth Caradon Mounts Bay
2012 Falmouth Looe Caradon
2013 Falmouth Looe Roseland
2014[2] Falmouth Looe Caradon
2015 Falmouth Caradon Looe
2016[3] Falmouth Looe Caradon
2017[4] Falmouth Looe Caradon
2018[5] Looe Caradon Falmouth
2019[6] Looe Roseland Coverack

Results by Crew

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Women

Rank Crew 1st Place 2nd Place 3rd Place Total
1 Falmouth 15 4 2 21
2 Isles of Scilly 5 7 5 17
3 Caradon 3 1 4 8
4 Newquay 3 0 2 5
5 Fowey 2 2 2 6
6 Roseland 1 3 3 7
7 KWV De-Kaag (Netherlands) 1 3 1 5
8 Mounts Bay 0 3 3 6
9 Padstow 0 2 0 2
10 Charlestown 0 1 3 4
11 Scheveningen (Netherlands) 0 1 2 3
12 Par Bay 0 1 1 2
13 Port Isaac 0 1 0 1
13= Flushing and Mylor 0 1 0 1
14 Salcombe 0 0 1 1
14= Truro 0 0 1 1

Men

Rank Crew 1st Place 2nd Place 3rd Place Total
1 Caradon 12 5 6 23
2 Falmouth 8 1 3 12
3 Isles of Scilly 4 3 4 11
4 Looe 2 6 0 8
5 Par Bay 2 2 5 9
6 Truro 1 3 1 5
7 Mounts Bay 1 0 2 3
8 Roseland 0 6 4 10
9 Caradon B 0 1 2 3
10 Rame 0 1 1 2
11 Fowey 0 1 0 1
11= Hayle 0 1 0 1
12 KWV De-Kaag (Netherlands) 0 0 1 1
12= Coverack 0 0 1 1
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References

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  1. ^ 29th World Pilot Gig Championships 2018. Headland Printers. 2018. pp. 16–17.
  2. ^ a b "Falmouth make history at World Pilot Gig Championships". Falmouth Packet. England. 7 May 2014. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Victory for local teams at World Gig Championships". ITV news. England. 2 May 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  4. ^ a b "Thousands attend World rowing championships on the Isles of Scilly". ITV news. England. 1 May 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  5. ^ a b Ferguson, Emma (6 May 2018). "Looe and Caradon take World Pilot Gig Championships 2018 titles". Falmouth Packet. England. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  6. ^ a b "World Pilot Gig Championship Results 2019". www.gigrower.co.uk. Retrieved 5 September 2019.