Captain's gig

The captain's gig /ˈɡɪɡ/ is a boat used on naval ships as the captain's taxi. It is a catch-all phrase for this type of craft and over the years it has gradually increased in size, changed with the advent of new technologies for locomotion, and been crafted from increasingly more durable materials.

History

Wooden captains' gigs

In general, during the era of wooden ships, it was smaller and lighter than the longboat, barge or pinnace. It was usually crewed by four oarsmen, and a coxswain. Generally the oarsmen sat one to a seat, but each only rowed a single oar on alternating sides. The gig was not as sea kindly as the longboat, but was used mostly in harbors.

The gigs generally had a high wineglass transom, full skeg, full keel, straight stem and somewhat rounded sides. There was in general very little rocker in the keel. The gunwales on many were nearly straight from bow to stern. It appears to be the precursor to the Whitehall Rowboat. Some wooden captain's gigs were quite large and were powered by sail.

Captain's Gig (horse)

Captain's Gig (foaled 1965 in Kentucky) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse bred and raced by Harry Guggenheim's Cain Hoy Stable. Sired by Turn-To, his dam was Guggenheim's good runner Make Sail who in 1960 won the Kentucky Oaks and Alabama Stakes. Damsire Ambiorix was the Leading sire in North America in 1961 and the Leading broodmare sire in Great Britain & Ireland in 1963.

Trained by Bill Stephens, Captain's Gig won three of five starts at age two in 1967. His wins that year included the most prestigious race for American juveniles, the Futurity Stakes at Aqueduct in which he set a new track record. As a three-year-old en route to the first leg of the 1958 U.S. Triple Crown series, the lightly raced colt won an Allowance race followed by a 3½ length win in the Forerunner Purse at Keeneland. He then ran away from the field in capturing the Stepping Stone Purse by eight lengths at Churchill Downs. Sent off as the fourth choice by bettors in the Kentucky Derby, Captain's Gig finished tenth. The colt went on to run second in both the Jersey Derby and the Jerome Handicap but won the Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga Race Course.