1. Appointment of a New Trustee
Andrew Spooner was appointed as a trustee for CFOGA in July 2024. Andrew has been a member of Devoran and London Cornish, where he held the position of welfare officer. We are excited to welcome Andrew to the board of trustees.
2. Legal Proceedings: CFOGA and CPGA dispute
As you may be aware, a dispute has arisen between the Cornish Four-Oared Gig Association (CFOGA) and the Cornish Pilot Gig Association (CPGA) over the registration of four-oared gig drawings with the Intellectual Property Office (IPO).
We believe it is important for the gig rowing community to be aware of the timeline of events concerning this dispute –
1986: Ralph Bird and some close friends started the CPGA at his house in Devoran.
2005: Ralph Bird designed and built the four-oared gig “Regatta” for Bude Gig Club, launched at Newquay Rowing Club.
2007: Ralph Bird built the four-oared gig “Boy Ben” for Porthgain Rowing Club in Wales.
2009: Ralph Bird died.
2017: Patrick Bird purchased “Regatta” from Bude Gig Club and informed the CPGA that he intended to build replicas of his father’s four-oared gig design.
2018: Patrick Bird suggested to the CPGA that they work together to promote four-oared gigs, which was received as a good idea.
2021: As no further progress or contact was being made by the CPGA, Patrick Bird and his sister Vanessa formed the CFOGA CIO to protect the intellectual property of their late father Ralph Bird, and to reinstate the building and racing of Cornish four-oared gigs as per his wishes. The CFOGA applied to register the design with the IPO, which was granted on 26th January 2022.
2022: As per their 2022-2027 strategy, the CPGA subsequently registered its own four-oared gig design with the IPO, which is remarkably similar to Ralph Bird’s design. This registration was granted on 27th April 2022. Patrick and Vanessa Bird subsequently twice met with representatives of the CPGA and requested that it remove its design registration to avert any dispute. This request was refused.
2023: The CFOGA applied to invalidate the CPGA design registration on 31st October 2023, disputing that the design was either original or owned by the CPGA. At this time, Patrick Bird also again invited the CPGA to discuss a productive way forward. This request was refused.
2024: Both parties have now signed a Settlement Agreement to agree that neither party will dispute each other’s design. Representatives from both parties also agreed to attend a meeting on 15th August in good faith “for the purposes of negotiating the terms of a binding contractual arrangement for the mutual co-existence and co-operation in the development of the four-oared gig sector.”
Anticipating a positive outcome, CFOGA made two initial propositions at the meeting:
- Gigs built from either design (the original Ralph Bird design, and the CPGA design) shall be permitted to race against each other.
- CPGA member clubs are invited to borrow the CFOGA loan boats and are invited to attend CFOGA four-oared gig races.
The CPGA stated that it currently has only one four-oared gig and is looking for grants to secure development. A four-oared gig racing calendar under the CPGA is unlikely for several years. In response to this, a third proposition was made by the CFOGA to the CPGA during the meeting:
- CFOGA takes the lead on the four-oared gig sector, given its current advancement with respect to the number of boats and its future gig racing plans.
The CPGA representatives did not make any propositions during the meeting but agreed to discuss our propositions with their trustees and member clubs and will propose its own ideas in due course.
3. Financial Implications of Legal Proceedings
The CFOGA has not taken any form of membership fees from affiliated clubs, nor from individual rowers. The financial cost of the legal proceedings amounted to £3,396. This was paid for by a generous benefactor who believes in the promotion of Cornish four-oared gigs and the preservation of Ralph Bird’s heritage and legacy.
4. Four-oared Gig Racing
We are excited to launch into more racing moving forward, and we welcome members from all clubs to come and try rowing in one of our four-oared gigs.
- The South East England Gig League is again welcoming four-oared gig racing. The next event is at Wraysbury Reservoir on August 31st where all clubs are welcome.
- 5-Islands Regatta (October 19th – 20th). Poole is hosting the 5-Islands Regatta and is again welcoming all four-oared gigs (both designs). We aim to have both of Ralph Bird’s gigs in attendance (Regatta and Boy Ben), Indy (built by Patrick Bird last year) and the CPGA four-oared gig is also welcome to attend. Please get in touch if you would like to try a four-oared gig before or while you’re at Poole.
5. Keep in touch!
As always, we are excited to see the world of four-oared gigs develop and we are looking forward to a fun race calendar for next year. If you would like to host four-oared gigs at your local regatta, to race against six-oared gigs or as a dedicated event, please contact us and we will assist in making it happen.
Please get in touch with any queries or requests at info@cfoga.org.uk
Best wishes,
CFOGA Trustees
Patrick Bird (chair), Vanessa Bird, Yvonne Baker, Greta Kendall, Ivan Sharrock, Andrew Spooner and Ella Sutton.
