Gig Racing & Building in New England

CLC's Whitby Pilot Gig built by Bowdoinham Rowing

Chesapeake Light Craft (CLC) colleagues Nicky Stimpson and Jay Hockenberry traveled to New England in July (2024) to explore the growth of “gig racing.” The Lake Champlain Maritime Museum (LCMM) was a fitting first stop, as the museum has been building and racing gigs for decades. Nick Patch, the Director of Maritime Programs, leads local high school students in a months-long project building traditionally-constructed rowing gigs. These vessels, about 32’ long, are either four-oared Whitehall gigs or six-oared pilot gigs based on the lines of the still-extant 1838 Cornish pilot boat TREFFRY. (TREFFRY’s lines were recorded and published by marine historian John Gardner in 1974.) Some gigs stay at the museum where they are raced regularly. Others go to one of eight area high schools with active rowing teams. The remaining gigs have gone to other rowing clubs around New England.

Rowing with the LCMM Rowing Crew

The Hull Lifesaving Museum has one of LCMM’s gigs among its fleet of eight boats. Nicky and Jay spoke with Mike McGurl, the museum’s executive director, who told them the club has about 80 to 100 members, with some number of them rowing almost every summer evening. The enthusiasm for rowing in this town is evident in their well-worn fleet of boats. The museum is on a spit of land that stretches a few miles into Boston Harbor, with an open north-facing rocky shore and an 8’-tidal range that have contributed to the wear on the boats as well. The club may soon be in need of a new boat or two.

Windmill Point Boathouse in Hull, MA

One option they may consider is CLC’s 32-foot Whitby Gig, which is a LapStitch™ version of the TREFFRY gig. The Whitby (England) Fisherman’s Amateur Rowing Club commissioned this design from CLC in 2015.  Jay, CLC designer and CAD/CAM expert, adhered carefully to the traditional lines in his modernization. CLC’s Whitby Gig is lapstrake, but is built stitch-and-glue style from a computer-cut kit. About a half-dozen of these thoroughbred gigs have been built thus far.

Jay with Bowdoinham Boatbuilders Pete Feeney & Paul Tabor

Underside of CLC Whitby Pilot Gig under construction

Bowdoinham Rowing in Bowdoinham, Maine, is building its second CLC Whitby Gig. The first is already well-used by the club’s 30 members. Jay and Nicky had the opportunity to row with the club during their trip. They found the CLC Whitby Gig to be stiffer and lighter than traditionally constructed craft. Bowdoinham chose CLC’s plywood gig over traditional construction because they haul out their boats at night. Traditionally-constructed hulls can dry out and leak if subjected to this treatment.

Rowing with the Bowdoinham Crew

Nicky and Jay headed back to Massachusetts for their last stop, Gloucester Gig Rowing. Nicky and Jay caught up with Clem Courcy, the club’s boatbuilder. The group is very active with a fleet of three gigs, one of which is also from Lake Champlain Maritime Museum. There are 180 members and a waiting list, so they need more boats soon. Perhaps a CLC Whitby Gig will be in their future too.

Jay and Clem in Gloucester, MA

This fall, Nicky will present a workshop on gig rowing at the Teaching With Small Boats Alliance conference at Mystic Seaport in Connecticut. While Nicky was the captain of her college crew team and coached sliding-seat rowing for many years (USNA Rowing), she appreciated the opportunity to practice fixed-seat rowing on this trip. Jay is happy to have had a chance to spend some time rowing the CLC Whitby Gig. 

Gloucester Gigs