London Cornish Pilot Gig Club are a relatively new pilot gig rowing club compared to some of their competitors who have been established for over 30 years.
The club have been around for three years now after being established in 2016.
Despite only being a club for a short time, the up-and-coming gig club compete both nationally and internationally.
In addition they boast not one, but two locations in London – one in the East in Royal Albert Docks and one in West London in Richmond.
The story of their club is a fascinating one from where they’ve been to where they’re going.
What Is A Cornish Pilot Gig?
Pilot Gig Rowing is a tradition that originated in areas such as Cornwall and Devon. It grew from there, with the boats known as ‘Cornish Pilot Gigs’.
The sport is very heavy and hard going for the backs and the arms of the rowers, with racing often taking place in very rough waters, and is very competitive.
However straying away from the South of the country, London Cornish Pilot Gig Club are the first and only Pilot Gig club in London.
How It All Started
David Callahan a member, vice chair and a trustee of the club gave an insight into the club’s history.
He explained how the idea to start the club came from a conversation in a pub.
“In 2015 there were a few mates sat round a table in the pub, as all good ideas start, they said, ’How hard could it be to start a gig club in London?’ as most of the clubs are down in the south west – predominantly Cornwall. So originally this is how we ended up in Richmond.
“We ended up in Richmond as the club next door, Richmond Bridge Boat Club, were nice enough to lend a hand at the start of our club. They supported us with boats, coaching and guidance. Everything went from there and here we stand as their next-door neighbour now!
“Starting out with just a few members, we were able to purchase our first boat, Fury, with the support of British Rowing. At the start we had no clubhouse (we only got one at the end of 2018) so there was over two years of training throughout the year without a clubhouse to call home.”
Keeping Traditions Alive
Callahan spoke about their club’s head coach as well as where the sport originated from with its transition from the South to London.
“Our head coach Paddy (Patrick) Bird, his dad lived in Cornwall and was an established boat builder. He built gigs (we own two of them), and in his time, he is to thank for being part of the re-ignition of the sport of Cornish Pilot Gig rowing.”
As well as being head coach Bird has taken on this tradition of building boats and oars for the London clubs as well as further afield such as clubs in Colchester.
“Paddy has now taken up that tradition, having now built three gigs himself. Hurricane was built by Paddy as his first boat, in an arch just around the corner from where we’re standing in Richmond. He’s more recently built a boat for Rowhedge and built a boat for our Men’s A crew to row at this year’s World Championships this year, called Phoenix”.
Callahan praised the work of Bird in continuing the tradition of building Cornish Gigs.
“Starting with building oars and then getting commissioned to build a boat it’s just an amazing opportunity for him, and for our club to have them made around the corner from where we train. The Men’s A rowed in that boat (Hurricane) last year at Scilly and this will be going to Scilly again to be rowed by our Ladies A crew.”
“It’s just been amazing in London, he’s building Cornish Pilot Gigs. There are few Cornish Pilot Gig boat builders left and it is fantastic that we have one here in London. One boat (Phoenix) was bought by the Royal Navy and renamed ‘Trafalgar’ after being used by the club at the world championships.”
Expanding Across London
The club’s main club house is based in an underground arch, tucked away in Richmond but have a second rowing location at the Royal Albert Docks in East London. There they train in ‘’Ansom’, a plastic fibreglass Cornish Pilot Gig, away from the currents and flow.
“At the moment we have a fixed base on the west side of London, and we purchased ‘’Ansom’ because we wanted to start something on the east side of London. We have British Rowing to thank again for their support with this.
“We’re the only fixed-seat rowing on the docks, as opposed to sliding seat rowing and we wanted to start to build a community on the other side of the capital. We plan to move one of our wooden gigs back to London soon – there’s a slight challenge of our boat launch that we’re working with the docks management team on.”
The club are potentially expanding further with talks for an East London clubhouse being discussed.
“We’re in discussion with someone who is developing some land in east London at the moment about potentially having a second clubhouse in east London that would be directly on the Thames.
“For practicing and training this would be a great benefit to the club and our members. In terms of open water training, at Richmond we’re between two locks, and there’s few ripples – the biggest thing we have is the flow which is nice and strong which is great for resistance training but doesn’t give us the opportunity to train people for open water competitions.”
From London To Scilly
The club competes internationally, one competition being the World Pilot Gig Championships, which are held off the Cornish coast on the Isles of Scilly annually.
Despite putting in all the training in London competing in Scilly is a completely different experience.
“Comparing rowing on the Thames to rowing on the Isles of Scilly three years ago was horrendous. At one my point oar is past me below my feet and the next point its above me – it’s so much fun and a wonderful experience – but it can be (and often is) nothing like rowing at Richmond.”
Callahan explained how the club secured some hugely improved results from last year’s championships and is excited for the future of the club.
“The Men’s squad finished 11th this year (2019) at the World Championships on the Isles of Scilly – which was a high step up for the club as last year (2018) we were 38th. Our Ladies squad also made significant gains from 118th in 2018 to 43rd this year. It’s been a terrific year for the club and I look forward to what the future has for us, our rowers and the sport overall.”
