The fishing vessel of the Grand Banks, area between the coast of Canada and Labrador under the influence of the cold current of Humbolt and the warm Gulf Stream, the Banks were the preferred fishing grounds of both Canadian and American fishermen. There were a large number of codfish, salmon and tuna those days. The vessels were strongly constructed to weather the rigorous challenges of the North Atlantic fishing grounds but were also built for speed and holding capacity. Fishermen have always been proud of their crafts and usually compete to show their mettle.
In 1920,the Halifax Herald newspaper established a formal race series. The races would be between bona-fide working ships. That year, the schooner Esperanto out of Gloucester, Massachusetts, defeated the Delawana of Lunenburg and took the trophy to New England. Dismayed, Nova Scotians hired young Halifax marine architect William Roue, to design a challenge for the trophy. The schooner Bluenose was built and launched in Lunenburg on March 26, 1921.
In October 1921, after a fishing season on the Grand Banks, Bluenose defeated Gloucester s Elsie and brought the trophy home.The American schooners Henry Ford, Columbia and Gertrude L Thebaud, as well as a number of Canadian vessels, built in effort to surpass Bluenose´ s remarkable sailing abilities,were all defeated.
The final race took place in 1938 when Bluenose defeated the Thebaud, still handling as smartly as ever. Canada s most famous sailing vessel was a tribute to the Nova Scotian shipwrights and sailors who built it.
In 1942, despite the efforts by her master, Captain Angus J. Walters, of Lunenburg and others to keep the ship in Nova Scotia, Bluenose was sold to carry freight in the West Indies.
On January 28, 1946, the schooner foundered on a Haitian reef.