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拍品專文
Designed specifically to race for the so-called International Fishermen's Trophy yet still primarily a working fishing boat, Bluenose was one of those rare hybrids which somehow managed to straddle the vast gulf which separated the totally disparate worlds of ocean racing and deep-sea fishing.
The International Fishermen's Trophy was a prize announced in 1920 by W.H. Dennis, proprietor of the Halifax Herald newspaper, to challenge the belief that the contenders for the America's Cup must always be thoroughbred yachts rather than simple working boats capable of taking advantage of a good wind. The first race for the trophy took place in October 1920 but was won by the Massachusetts' schooner Esperanto, from Gloucester, against the Canadian Delawana. Stung by this defeat, a well-known though self-styled amateur naval architect from Nova Scotia named William J. Roue designed Bluenose, little realising that his schooner would soon become one of Canada's most celebrated saltwater heroines. Built by Smith & Rhuland at Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, early in 1921, Bluenose displaced 285 tons and measured 143 feet in length with a 27 foot beam. Constructed of wood throughout, she needed a crew of at least twenty to work her effectively and her first skipper was Angus Walters, one of the most successful fishermen on the Grand Banks and a man who had already acquitted himself well during the trials ahead of the 1920 contest. Esperanto having been wrecked in the summer of 1921, the Americans initially put forward the Mayflower but she was rejected in favour of the Elsie which Bluenose soundly beat by more than two miles on consecutive days that October.
The next year, 1922, Bluenose beat the newly-designed Henry Ford skippered by Clayton Morrissey and although the 1923 race was adjudged a draw, it was a controversial decision and Angus Walters regarded himself and Bluenose as the real victors. Partly because of this, the International Trophy was not contested again until 1931 when Bluenose convincingly beat the American challenger Gertrude L. Thebaud, despite having lost to her in a similar match the previous year. Acclaimed wherever she went, Bluenose's fame even spread across the Atlantic and she was invited to participate in several English regattas during 1935 where she performed well. The final International Fishermen's Trophy contest was held in 1937 and Bluenose retained her title to the last, winning three races out of five against her 1931 adversary Gertrude Thebaud prior to retiring from racing altogether. Laid up after the outbreak of World War II, when the presence of German U-boats threatened all the Grand Banks' schooners, she was sold to the West Indies' Trading Company in 1942 and put to work on the inter-island trade in the Caribbean until 1946 when she ran aground off Haiti, broke her back and sank.
So famous was she in her own time that images of her adorned Canadian stamps and coins before the War which then served to keep her memory alive after her loss; in fact, her place in the national psyche remained so strong that the Nova Scotia government built a replica of her in 1963 which is still used as a goodwill ambassador for the province.
The International Fishermen's Trophy was a prize announced in 1920 by W.H. Dennis, proprietor of the Halifax Herald newspaper, to challenge the belief that the contenders for the America's Cup must always be thoroughbred yachts rather than simple working boats capable of taking advantage of a good wind. The first race for the trophy took place in October 1920 but was won by the Massachusetts' schooner Esperanto, from Gloucester, against the Canadian Delawana. Stung by this defeat, a well-known though self-styled amateur naval architect from Nova Scotia named William J. Roue designed Bluenose, little realising that his schooner would soon become one of Canada's most celebrated saltwater heroines. Built by Smith & Rhuland at Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, early in 1921, Bluenose displaced 285 tons and measured 143 feet in length with a 27 foot beam. Constructed of wood throughout, she needed a crew of at least twenty to work her effectively and her first skipper was Angus Walters, one of the most successful fishermen on the Grand Banks and a man who had already acquitted himself well during the trials ahead of the 1920 contest. Esperanto having been wrecked in the summer of 1921, the Americans initially put forward the Mayflower but she was rejected in favour of the Elsie which Bluenose soundly beat by more than two miles on consecutive days that October.
The next year, 1922, Bluenose beat the newly-designed Henry Ford skippered by Clayton Morrissey and although the 1923 race was adjudged a draw, it was a controversial decision and Angus Walters regarded himself and Bluenose as the real victors. Partly because of this, the International Trophy was not contested again until 1931 when Bluenose convincingly beat the American challenger Gertrude L. Thebaud, despite having lost to her in a similar match the previous year. Acclaimed wherever she went, Bluenose's fame even spread across the Atlantic and she was invited to participate in several English regattas during 1935 where she performed well. The final International Fishermen's Trophy contest was held in 1937 and Bluenose retained her title to the last, winning three races out of five against her 1931 adversary Gertrude Thebaud prior to retiring from racing altogether. Laid up after the outbreak of World War II, when the presence of German U-boats threatened all the Grand Banks' schooners, she was sold to the West Indies' Trading Company in 1942 and put to work on the inter-island trade in the Caribbean until 1946 when she ran aground off Haiti, broke her back and sank.
So famous was she in her own time that images of her adorned Canadian stamps and coins before the War which then served to keep her memory alive after her loss; in fact, her place in the national psyche remained so strong that the Nova Scotia government built a replica of her in 1963 which is still used as a goodwill ambassador for the province.