VENCEDOR

Impeccably researched and colourfully told, Vencedor is a fascinating account of not just a racing sailboat storied for its exploits and victories, but of the man who built it: Danish American naval engineer Thorvald Julius Schougaard Poekel. Vencedor would distinguish itself in a series of highly competitive races between the United States and Canada on what has been called the great unsalted seathe Great Lakesthat led to the creation of Canadas Cup, one of the most prestigious yachting events in the world.

Vencedor, a 65-foot sloop, was built by the Racine Boat Manufacturing Company, which had hired Poekel away from the renowned Herreshoff Boatyard in Bristol, Rhode Island, where he had been the chief draftsman, working alongside Nathanael Greene Herreshoff and his brother.

Under this magnetic and revealing account of a bygone era and heated competition lies a mystery. During Poekels nine-year tenure with the Herreshoffs, the company made some of the fastest and most famous yachts in the world.

Although Capt. Nat signed almost every construction plan alone, the name T. Sch. Poekel appears on several. In Vencedor, Thorvald Poekels great-grandson, gives credence to the theory that his ancestor really was an unsung Herreshoff hero.