She was designed with a schooner hull similar to her famous sister ship Bluenose, but with a 320 brake horsepower (240 kW) diesel engine installed from the beginning.

[3] She frequently participates in tall ship festivities along the Eastern Seaboard and continues to visit her original home port in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.

While the Bluenose split her time between racing and fishing, the Sherman Zwicker's true purpose was to prolong the working life of the saltbank fleet; therefore, slight modifications were made to her rigging and propulsion to increase efficiency.

This left her with the sleek purpose built racing hull of Bluenose, paired with a substantial Fairbanks Morse diesel engine, and a more compact, easier to tend rig.

Her keel was laid at the renowned Smith and Rhuland Shipyard in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia where she was built by hand using heavy timbers of old growth Canadian elm.

Under the Trust, the Sherman Zwicker became a fully operational, traveling museum, attending many tall ship festivities along the eastern seaboard, and frequently visiting her old ports of call in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland to much fanfare.

The Maritime Foundation found her a new home at Hudson River Park's Pier 25 in New York City (40°43′13″N 74°00′58″W / 40.72030°N 74.01607°W / 40.72030; -74.01607),[5] where she is maintained using proceeds from "Grand Banks", an award-winning seasonal oyster bar that operates on her deck.