The schooner was designed by William J. Roue to fish for cod on the Grand Banks off Newfoundland, at a time when such work was done from the decks of wooden tall-ships powered by sail. The Bluenose was also designed to race on the open ocean. It was the first time the self-taught Roue had designed a working fishing schooner, rather than a recreational or racing vessel.

Speed was essential to both of the Bluenose’s tasks. Obviously, the faster boat wins the race, but the faster fishing vessel also gets back to port quickest, guaranteeing its crew will get the best price for its catch.

Victor Cavendish, the governor general of Canada, travelled to Lunenburg to drive the golden spike that would mark the ship’s completion. He swung the big iron hammer at the spike, but failed to connect – he’d just been to another function and evidently enjoyed a bit too much drink. Someone else helped him out, and the spike was finally driven.

Skippered by Captain Angus J. Walters against the fastest American schooners, many of them from Gloucester, Massachusetts, the Bluenose crew set its sights on winning the International Fishermen’s Race. The event pitted working fishermen in their regular schooners, competing for the Fishermen’s Trophy.

The Bluenose achieved that goal, and more. It won the Trophy – emblematic of the sailing championship of the fishing fleets of the northwest Atlantic – in 1921, 1922 and 1923. Its only defeat was by the Boston schooner Gertrude L. Thebaud in the Lipton Cup in 1930, but it outraced the Thebaud for the Fisherman's Trophy in 1931 and 1938.

The Bluenose also held the record for the largest catch of fish brought into Lunenburg.

Nicknamed the "Queen of the North Atlantic," the Bluenose represented Nova Scotia around the world. It appeared at the Chicago World Fair in 1933 and crossed the Atlantic to England in 1935 to attend the silver jubilee of King George V.