The Isles of Scilly have a long and distinguished history when it comes to pilot gigs, unfortunately, only a handful of these magnificent and varied craft still remain afloat and active today. Gigs were originally used to take pilots out to incoming ships; Scillonian pilots were regarded as some of the best in the world and were given licences by Trinity House. Each Island had its own pilots and therefore needed its own pilot gigs. Some were privately owned, some were owned by shareholders and companies looking for profit owned some too. The trade provided an invaluable income for the poor Islanders in the 1800’s. The gigs proved themselves as outstanding with great manoeuvrability and stability; they were sometimes even, preferred to lifeboats. Gigs were frequently used to rescue the crew of a stricken vessel and collect valuable salvage.

Here is a list of all of the gigs ever known to have been on Scilly at any time, their dates vary from the early 1800’s to the modern day as gig racing is a rapidly emerging sport. Some of the gigs moved between islands and some of the names mustn’t be confused with later mainland gigs. Those marked with a (?) are still racing today and those marked with a (?) are gigs built in the 20th century for racing purposes only.

|St Mary’s|

? A&B
? Bee
? Bonnet ?
? Blucher
? Boot
? Bull
? Challenger
? Champion
? Cuckoo
? Dart
? Daniel
? Dolly Varden
? Dove
? Defiance
? Franklin
? Golden Eagle ? (formerly of Bryher)
? Hound
? Hope I
? Horse
? Jolly
? Juno
? Klondyke
? Leo
? Lion
? Lloyds Black
? Lloyds Green
? Lloyds White
? Mistletoe
? Monarch
? Mohamed I
? Nornour ??
? Old Town Gig (previously numbered)
? Palace
? Railway
? Serica ??
? St. Vincent
? Sulton
? Topsy
? Unicorn
? Whaler
? Zelda

|Tresco|

? Bonnet ?
? Czar ?
? Gleaner
? Hope II
? Longkeel
? Men a Vaur ??
? Swift

|St Agnes|

? Bee (formerly of St. Mary’s)
? Briton
? Campernel
? Cetewayo
? Daring
? Elaine
? Gipsy
? Guinivere
? Klondyke (formerly St. Mary’s, now in the Museum)
? O & M (named after Obediah and Mary Hicks)
? Slippen (formerly the Bernice of St. Martins)
? Shah ?
? Thomas
? Wasp

|St Martin’s|

? Bernice
? Bonnet ?
? Dauntless (a modern gig but not racing)
? Dolphin ??
? Emperor
? Empress
? Galatea I
? Galatea II ?? (built by Ralph Bird in 2001)
? Lily
? Linnet

|Bryher|

? Albion
? Czar ? (shared with Tresco)
? Golden Eagle ? (later St. Mary’s)
? March
? Marene
? Men a Vaur ??
? Sussex
? Venus

Other (shared by The Islands for Junior crews and World Championships)

? Tregarthens ? (Built by D & J Currugh in 1999)
? Islander ? (Built by Tom Chudleigh in 1990)

Only four of the older ‘original’ gigs survive for Island races, they are the Czar, the Shah, the Golden Eagle and the Bonnet. The Campernel is still in her shed on St. Agnes, the Slippen is used occasionally for practices on St. Mary’s and the Klondyke is on display in St. Mary’s Museum. It is largely thanks to Newquay rowing club that the Shah and the Bonnet have survived, Newquay bought them and then later, gave them back in return for a new gig the ‘Active’. Newquay also played a key role in the revival of Gig rowing as a sport. It is a fitting testament to these crafts that so many mainland crews have adopted the old names for their own new gigs. Only two ‘old’ gigs survive in Cornwall now, they are both at Newquay. These days all new gigs are built to the same specifications, the older gigs in Scilly varied depending on their intended task and the craftsman. Only four of the Seventy-Four gigs that have been on The Islands in the past survive for rowing. Different gigs met with different fates, some were cut up to make two boats, one was made into a chicken house, one, bizarrely, now decorates a restaurant on St. Mary’s. The sad fate that awaited the majority of these craft though, was being left to rot in fields once their useful lives had finished.