Witch in the Wind: The True Story of the Legendary «Bluenose».

Gordon Turner is the author of Empress of Britain: Canadian Pacific’s
Greatest Ship and the editor of SeaFare, a quarterly newsletter on sea
travel.

Much has been written about the great Nova Scotian schooner Bluenose of Lunenburg, which competed in the 1920s and early 1930s in sailing races against the best that the Massachusetts fishing port of Gloucester could offer. Legend, though, has often overtaken truth. Witch in the Wind succeeds admirably in separating fact from fiction. Myth: Bluenose was built simply as a fishing boat and just happened to have a lively turn of speed. Reality: Bluenose was planned and built as a speedster whose prime function was to outrace competitors; her qualities as a fishing vessel were important but secondary.

The races excited immense interest throughout North America, particularly in the vessels’ home regions. Regulations required that the competitors be working fishing boats. Crews were workaday fishermen, not wealthy yachtsmen. Bluenose was fortunate in having the flinty, taciturn, and hard-headed Angus Walters as her skipper. His sailing skills were unquestioned. He and Bluenose formed an indivisible team, each bringing out the best in the other. Races against the Gloucestermen were often the best of five, and although Bluenose lost individual races, she never lost a series. Sportsmanship was not always present in the competitions, but the squabbling usually arose on shore from interpretation of the construction and racing regulations.

The author has done a fine job of research. He writes of the political factors that lay behind Bluenose’s construction; he relates the economic and social conditions of Nova Scotia and its fisheries in the years between the World Wars; he describes the men that crewed the boats under often hazardous conditions; and he reminds the reader that those beautiful fishing schooners—relying on sails rather than engines—were almost obsolete from the day they were launched. Marq de Villiers is a skilled writer; his book held this reviewer’s interest on every page. Other books have been written about Bluenose, but it is hard to imagine a better one than this.