NS SPORT HALL OF FAME INDUCTION TEXT
Used with permission.

David Flemming’s thorough biography of William J. Roue in the Hall of Fame magazine at your seats tonight mentions that William was a grandson of a soft drink manufacturer in Halifax. Bill probably would have been a wealthy man had he remained in the business in which he was involved for several years until his love of boats and complete understanding of designing them dragged him away from the family business.

His great-granddaughter, Joan Roue, who you’ll meet a little later along with Bill’s grandson Laurie and granddaughter Jean, tells several stories about the man on whose knee she sat as a youngster.

(JOAN ROUE VIDEO – 11 seconds - “he was just my great grandfather”)

Joan has the rocking chair in which William sat with her, and his drafting table, the one on which he designed the world-famous Bluenose, and also a desk, marked and scratched as it was when Bill owned it.

Joan has written a biography of her great grandfather, A Spirit Deep Within. Her research, discussions with relatives including her father and grandfather, revealed that Bill considered the Bluenose just one ship of the more than 200 he designed.

(JOAN ROUE VIDEO – 27 seconds – brought them to the finish line first.”)

Joan says the Bluenose was no more special than any of his others, except its success allowed him to pursue his dream of designing boats, rather than working in the soda pop factory.

During school classes at Halifax Academy, Bill would be drawing yachts rather than paying attention. He left school at age 16 and, while working during the day in a grocery store, took night classes in mechanical draughting at the Victoria School of Art and Design, which is now the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design.

Bill was earning the princely sum of $100 a year but used $10 of it to join the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron and another $16 to purchase a book on yachting architecture. Such was his desire to learn and his devotion to boats.

As a four-year-old, Bill began making toy wooden boats and even asked his father to help him put outside lead ballast on a toy boat he’d built, a concept rarely used at the time.

By age 13, he built his first five-foot model sailing boat. He became a master skipper at the Squadron before he was able to become a member.

In 1909, his first designed boat, Babette, was launched. But it was 11 years later, when he received a contract to design a fishing schooner to contend for the International Fisherman’s Trophy.

He called it Design # 17. It was given the name Bluenose and launched in Lunenburg March 26, 1921. That fall, Bluenose won the Trophy, the first of many victories that would bring fame to William J Roue.

He continued to run the family business until the firm was sold in 1929 and Bill pursued a professional career in naval architecture - Canada's first Naval Architect.

He designed boats for John Molson and John Deere. One of his great accomplishments was designing a sectional barge for the British government during World War II, barges on which allied troops landed at Normandy Beach on D-Day. All of those barges were built in five shipyards in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

What is amazing about this man and his life’s work is that boats designed up to 80 years ago have lasted so long, considering the new technologies available. Yet Roue’s boats are as revered as they were the days they were shaped.

(JOAN ROUE VIDEO – 10 seconds – “everything was by hand.”)

William Roue, a self-taught engineer.

William Roue, appearing on a Canadian stamp.

William Roue, whose best-known work, the Bluenose, will always be so as the subject of one side of the Canadian ten-cent piece.

William Roue, who could have made tons more money operating the soda pop plant that bottled Coca-Cola in Halifax.

William Roue who followed his dream.

William Roue, a member of Canada’s Sport Hall of Fame.

And now, William Roue, honoured member as a builder in the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame