ALLEGRA BOVERMAN/Staff photo. Gloucester Daily Times. Gloucester: Clem Courcy of Manchester paints the bottom of a pilot gig at the Gloucester Maritime Center on Saturday. Pilot gig boats used to bring pilots out to incoming ships and the first pilot to get to the ship got the job, he explained. Nowadays, the boats are used for rowing events where six rowers at a time, plus a coxswain, row in competition in one hour races. The Gloucester Gig Rowers will row in Essex in a 5 1/2 mile long race to Conomo Point and back from the Essex Shipbuilding Museum area on May 19 against other rowing teams from Plymouth, Vermont, Maine and New Bedford. The group's website and schedule are at gloucestergigrowers.com

120428ABOPILOTGIG