The first twelve boats were built by Barkhouse Boatyard Ltd. in East Chester, Nova Scotia and were ready to be sailed in the spring of 1946. By the summer of 1949, nearly fifty yachts had been constructed by Mr. Barkhouse and a man named Murphy (about whom I have much to learn, including his first name), and were being sailed in various parts of Canada and the New England states.
The two original builders eventually produced 77 boats between them. Many boats migrated throughout the Maritime Provinces, to Ontario and to the New England states, but the core of the fleet remained in Nova Scotia, centered mainly in Halifax but with healthy fleets in Chester and Lunenburg.
In the mid 1960s, George McVay of Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia - under license with designer W.J. Roué - began manufacturing a fiberglass version of the Bluenose design from a mold that was made from the hull of Skylark, sail number B71, a wooden boat that remained in very good condition at the time. Sail numbers for these yachts began at 101 and roughly one hundred were eventually produced. Many made their way to Ontario, including a small fleet that was used for the training of naval cadets, and quite a few can still be found throughout the New England states. They were even available for sale in Southern California in the 1960s, and they can still be spotted in places like Marina Del Rey. I am aware of at least one that is actively raced in Morro Bay, California. The McVay license to build Bluenose Sloops was revoked by the W.J. Roué estate in 1972.
The fiberglass boats are quite similar in both style and handling to their wooden counterparts, but are generally acknowledged to be somewhat less effective in heavy wind. Their keels are more heavily ballasted than the wooden yachts to compensate for the lighter hull, but the difference in weight distribution leads to noticeably different handling, especially in heavy seas.
A small cuddy closes off a portion of the cockpit that is open in the wooden boats, making it slightly more awkward to race successfully. Similarly, the benches have been removed from many of the wooden boats, adding considerably more maneuvering room in the cockpit. The molded benches in the fiberglass yachts are of course fixed. In spite of this, several fiberglass boats have been competitive at the Championships over the years, though one has yet to win.
In May 2007 Snyder's Shipyard (Dayspring, NS) was named as the exclusive authorized builder of new Bluenose Sloops - the first builder authorized by the Roué family since 1972. Snyder's will build from a complete set of Roué plans, including his original table of offsetts. For more information on new Bluenose Sloops, please contact Snyder's directly at 902.543.8323.
The first 12 Bluenose Sloops were built by John H. Barkhouse, of Barkhouse Boatyard Ltd., in East Chester, Nova Scotia. Construction began in 1945 and the first boats were ready for the summer of 1946. For posterity, the original names and owners (as recorded in the archives of the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic) are as follows:
| Sail Number | Original Name | Original Owner |
|---|---|---|
| B1 | Gilpie | N. Gilpin |
| B2 | Stormy Weather | P. Beaner |
| B3 | Betty Lou | A. Levy |
| B4 | Rowdy | A. Gilford |
| B5 | Spindrift | S. (or G.) Doane |
| B6 | Shady Lady | W. Oxner |
| B7 | Bluenose | G. Dauphinee |
| B8 | Penguin | D. Currie |
| B9 | Glen Ho | D. Hopgood |
| B10 | Pixie | D. Cooley |
| B11 | Nemesis | C. Wallace |
| B12 | Jolly Moron | E. Murphy |
A surprising number of these are still actively sailed or even raced, although all of the names and owners have since changed. B7 and B8 have been recent winners of the Championship trophy. To my knowledge, B2, B4 and B5 are also well maintained and still active, and others may be as well. B1 was allowed to fall into a state of considerable disrepair, but has since been restored and now occupies a place of distinction at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. You will find it there fully rigged, looking very much as it must have when its sails were first hoisted back in 1946.