Here are a set of rules from the 2002 WPGCs. (Originally published on the old PilotGigs.co.uk web site).
|Race Rules| 1 For any crew to be eligible for 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th places they must have the same six rowers for all Championship races.
2 Any Gig failing to obey the start Marshall’s orders will be given one verbal warning and disqualification will take place if this is ignored.
3 All boats must steer a proper course. Any zig zagging to block another boat will result is disqualification.
4 The outside gig must give the inside water on the St Agnes races.
5 All gigs must keep outside all rocks on the north side of St Marys Shore. Gigs rowing inside the rocks will be disqualified.
6 Start Berths :
Rounds 1,3, and 5 Alphabetical from starboard
Rounds 2 and 4 Alphabetical from port
7 The finish lines will be as follows :
St Agnes Races - Quay head to carn near or finishing buoy. All boats must pass between quay head and buoy.
Nut Rock Races - Bearing 052 (T) from quay head to finish between quay head and the finishing buoy.
NB All decisions made by the race stewards of the Isles of Scilly Gig Racing Association will be final.
|Format Rules| These rules have been devised to try to cover every eventuality that may occur throughout the Championships. It is not necessary for Coxswains and rowers to know these rules in detail, but they are being circulated so that everyone can see that decisions made by the race officials are to a prearranged pattern, and are applied fairly to all clubs. However, should any eventuality occur that is not covered by these rules, then any decisions made by the race officials or the Isles of Scilly Gig Racing Association will be final.
Movements between rounds will be two up and two down and will be posted on blackboards on the quay and at Holgates Green, and it is essential that coxswains consult these boards between rounds for details of their groups and berths.
The format will be the same for both the ladies and the mens Championships. The Championship will consist of four rounds. All gigs will row in every round.
The first round will be a race from St Agnes to St Marys. In this race, as in previous years, all gigs will start together on one long start line. From the positions in this race, the gigs will be seeded into 5 or 6 groups for Round 2.
In Round 2 the fastest gigs from Round 1 will be in Group A, the slowest in group E. (For more than 60 gigs the extra will join on to the end of the line but without a buoy. If there are more than 67 gigs we will have a group F consisting of the extra gigs).
Rounds 2, 3 and 4 will all be from Nut Rock to St Marys. Each round will consist of a series of 5 races, Group E starting first and group A last.
When the number of gigs rowing in each of the mens and ladies Championship have been decided (this will be the maximum number of gigs that we expect to take part) it will be set and not varied. This means that should a gig that has qualified to row in a group in any round, not turn up for that round, it will be judged as having come last in that group and change groups accordingly for the next round. (If a gig that is expected to row in the first round doesn’t turn up, it may row in the 2nd and subsequent rounds but it will begin in Group E). Gigs will not be moved groups to fill in gaps left by others not turning up.
Similarly if a gig is disqualified in any race, it will be judged as having come last in its group (or in the case of the first round last overall) If two or more gigs are disqualified their relative positions at the bottom of the group will be determined by their positions in the previous round.
The winners will be the first gigs in Group A in the final round with other placings following right down through the groups. There will be no adjustment for ‘Overlap’ position. There will be special trophies for the winners of each group in the final round and there will be a case of beer for the winners of round 1.
If the finishers declare any result between gigs to be a dead heat, then the results of the previous round will be consulted to decide the placings. The gig that rowed in the higher group, or if both gigs rowed in the same group, the gig that was better placed shall be awarded the higher placing.
Should a dead heat occur in the first round this count back system cannot be used, so the gig that was nearer to the port end of the start line shall have the higher placing. This is because the starboard boat is more likely to have had the slight advantage of the Garrison Shore Berth.