In 1920, after years of friendly rivalry between US and Canadian fishing schooners, the Halifax Herald newspaper established a formal race series. The prize to aim for was the International Fishermen's Trophy. That year, elimination races in both countries selected contenders. The schooner Esperanto out of Gloucester, Massachusetts defeated the Delawana of Lunenburg and took the trophy to England.

Dismayed Nova Scotians hired young Halifax marine architect William James Roue to design a ship to challenge for the trophy. The schooner Bluenose was built and launched in Lunenburg on March 26, 1921.

In October 1921, after a season fishing on the Grand Banks, Bluenose defeated Gloucester's Elsie and brought the Trophy home. In an 18-year racing career, Bluenose did not give up the Trophy. The American schooners Henry Ford, Columbia and Gertrude L Thebaud, as well as a number of Canadian vessels built in an effort to surpass Bluenose's remarkable sailing abilities, were all defeated.

The final race series took place in 1938. Bluenose, by then 17 years of age, defeated the Thebaud one final time. Still handling as smartly as ever, Canada's most famous sailing vessel was a tribute to the Nova Scotian shipwrights and sailors who built and crewed her and many other fishing and cargo schooners.

The Second World War ended the era of the great fishing schooners. Replaced by modern steel trawlers, the fleets of sailing salt-bankers no longer set out to challenge the cruel North Atlantic in order to reap a harvest of cod for the markets of the world.

In 1942, despite 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 Queen of the Atlantic foundered on a Haitian reef.

Bluenose II - Nautical Facts

• Home Port: Lunenburg, Nova Scotia
• Launched: July 24, 1963
• Bluenose II was built from identical plans as Bluenose, in the same shipyard of Smith and Rhuland and by some of the same men, for Oland Breweries.
• Identical to Bluenose in design of hull, rigging and sail plan.
• Bluenose II was sold to the government of Nova Scotia for $1 in 1971 by the Oland family of Halifax, and represents Nova Scotia as a sailing goodwill ambassador.
• Bluenose II is acknowledged to have the largest working mainsail in the world, measuring 4,150 square feet (386 m2). Total sail area measures over 11,000 square feet (1036 m2).
• Bluenose II does not race, as there is no desire to tamper with the fame and glory won by Bluenose, which is berthed across from the Brigantine Inn when in port.
• Voyages to various Canadian and USA ports are used to promote Nova Scotia tourism and trade development.
• In the summer months, Bluenose II visits festivals and events at seaports around Nova Scotia, and provides unique public sailings and charters.
• The image of Bluenose has graced the Canadian dime since 1937. She was the subject of a Canadian stamp in 1929 and Captain Walters was so honoured in 1988.
• Instruction to the seamen and cadets in the traditional skills of seamanship is an important task of the Officers of Bluenose II.
• All crew members live on board during the ship's six-month season.
• Bluenose II is the symbol of Nova Scotia around the world.