Vencedor

Impeccably researched and colorfully 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 sea”—the Great Lakes—that led to the creation of “Canada’s 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 Manufacturing Company of Bristol, Rhode Island, where he had been the chief draftsman.

In this magnetic and revealing account of a bvgone era and the heated competition lies subtext of a question the author, Thorvald Poekel’s great-grandson, has long wondered about.

During Poekel’s tenure with the Herreshoffs, the company made some of the fastest and most famous yachts in the world. Although Nathanael Greene Herreshoff signed almost all plans alone, the name T. Sch. Poekel appears on several. The Chicago Tribune and newspapers in Racine reported that Mr. Poekel had been the real designer of Defender, Niagara, and Vigilant.

Vencedor examines the question: Did he or didn’t he?