Bluenose one-design sloop

In 1960 Roué granted rights to produce the design in fibreglass to McVay Fiberglass Yachts of Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, which built them until 1972. George William McVay had founded his company after he left Paceship Yachts. Herring Cove Marine of Herring Cove, Nova Scotia was producing the boat in 2010, but seems to have gone out of business by 2018. A total of 180 examples were completed by the time production ended.[3][8]

As of 2018, Snyder's Shipyard in Dayspring, Nova Scotia is the only boatbuilder licensed to build Bluenose class sloops from W.J. Roue’s design.[9] At least one Bluenose class sloop was constructed of wood by Snyder's Shipyard in 2007.[10]

Although the fleet is now more than 70 years old, many of the boats are in very good condition. It is not uncommon that twenty or more yachts from the Halifax and Chester areas compete in a single event. Individual clubs also run smaller one-design races and handicap racing in club fleets is popular, as the size of the fleet makes it possible to establish a reasonable handicap without unduly penalizing the best skippers and crews.[6]

The Chester Bluenose fleet is the largest one-design keelboat fleet in Atlantic Canada and has an active racing schedule from June through September. In July and August there are races on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Sunday afternoons. Some fleet members also join the PHRF races on Saturday afternoons.[11]

In addition to these regularly scheduled races, there is a distance race (the "Extreme Race"), the Bluenose Maritime Championships and Chester Race Week. In June and September the fleet has races on Thursday evenings and Saturday afternoons.[11]

Bluenose one-design sloop

In August 1949, the Halifax Herald donated the International Bluenose Class Championship Trophy, as it had done for the International Fishermen’s Trophy twenty-eight years earlier. The winner that year was a crew from Marblehead, Massachusetts.[12]

A championship competition, open to all Bluenose sloops, is still held every year. However, the international format was abandoned after several boats swamped and sank during a particularly stormy weekend of racing. The Maritime Bluenose Championships are now contested by boats from the local fleets and are held in Halifax and Chester in alternating years.[12]

The format of the contest has changed only slightly over the years. It is held during the last weekend of August and, since 1986, has alternated location between Halifax and Chester. Five races are sailed, ideally with three on Saturday and two on Sunday. Occasionally, conditions are such that three races can not be completed on Saturday, in which case at most three are sailed on Sunday. If fewer than three races are completed in total, the trophy is not awarded. The course is an Olympic triangle or, in more recent years, a windward-leeward configuration race, with legs ranging from 1/2 – 2 miles in length, depending on the wind and sea conditions. The winner is determined using the Olympic scoring system. Each yacht must comply with class specification rules and carry a crew of exactly three (not two, and certainly not four).[12]