SIR PETER BLAKE The ocean master

CHILDHOOD

YOUNG YEARS  Peter James Blake was born in 1948 to Brian Blake and Joyce Hilda Wilson.  Peter Blake grew up in a small wooden bungalow in Bayswater on the northern side of the Waitemata Harbour. He loved boats from a young age and had always been a natural boatie.

EARLY BOATING  When Peter was eight years old, his father built him a P-Class boat called Pee Bee.  "Friends and I used to go all over Waitemata Harbour in our Ps together and sometimes ended up being blown into the mangroves around the edge,“ "We explored all the creeks near home. I can remember sailing on evenings after school, the sun going down on the water. I'd sail through flotillas of water birds. Really peaceful: I had as good a time then as sailing around the world years later in life.”  Quoted in Peter’s book “Peter Blake Adventurer”

OCEAN RACING

BURTON CUTTER WHITBREAD NUMBER 1  In 1967 Blake sold the family boat Bandit and used the money to go to England. While there he earned the place on Burton Cutter (which was in the Whitbread race), but there was one small problem. Burton Cutter was doomed from the start. As the race began the crew was still attaching makeshift bunks to use. The boat wasn’t built properly and limped back to England. Despite all that they came 2 nd.

HEATHS CONDOR WHITBREAD NUMBER 2  In 1978 Peter Blake made friends with Robert Knox-Johnston who got invited to co-captain in another Whitbread. He pulled some strings and got Peter Blake along with him.  When a man went overboard Peter sailed the ship back to him and rescued him, most likely saving his life.  Heaths Condor sadly didn’t win but it didn’t deter Peter Blake.

CERAMCO NZ WHITBREAD NUMBER 3  In 1979 he got married to a girl he met in England.1979 was a big year for Blake. Not only did he get married, but he was given the role of skipper of Condor which had been renamed Condor of Bermuda and won a couple of races including the famous Fastnet Race. In the Fastnet race 15 men died and 6 boats sank.  Then in 1981 Blake was asked to skipper Ceramco NZ. She sustained an injury in the first leg of the race and limped to Cape Town with a jury rig. Once again they did not place. The Jury rig

LION NZ WHITBREAD NUMBER 4 It was 1985 and Peter Blake was gearing up for the race he was determined to win. This time the race was fairly straight forward. There were no breakages or leaks and everything went smoothly. Despite the fact that there was no trouble Lion NZ came 7 th overall.

STEINLAGER 2 WHITBREAD NUMBER 5 TH AND FINAL  In 1989 he skippered Steinlager 2 racing in the Whitbread for what would be his last time racing in the Whitbread. The determination in Peter showed a lot about his personality, because only a person with a great dream would race in the same race 5 times to try and win it. Steinlager 2 came 1 st overall and 1 st handicapped and also won every leg overall and handicapped. One could almost say they cleaned up.

ENZA & THE JULES VERNE  In 1993 Peter set off in ENZA to break the mythical record set in the book Around the world in 80 days by Jules Verne. ENZA sailed around the world in 79 days setting a world record that is still held today.

AMERICA’S CUP

BLACK MAGIC  After all the success in ocean racing Peter Blake set his sights on the 1995 America’s cup, but him and his mate Alan Sefton who went on to write Peter’s biography couldn’t raise enough money to enter, so Peter mortgaged his house in England to get enough money.  Peter was on as a lucky charm because he wasn’t allowed to sail. Black Magic won 5-0 and the opposition captain said "I have never been in a race where I felt I had so little control over the outcome … I didn't even feel as if I was in a sailboat race."

TEAM NEW ZEALAND THE DEFENDER  1999 and New Zealand was defending the America’s cup. Sir Peter Blake said it was quite tempting to say well we won it. Mission accomplished. But they decided to try hard and win it again. This is the golden statement “They did!” In this year Peter Blake got knighted

ENVIRONMENTAL EXPEDITIONS

THE SEAMASTER  In 1997, Blake became the Cousteau Society's leader of expeditions, and captain of Antarctic Explorer. Then he bought Antarctic Explorer and called it Seamaster. He then left the Cousteau Society and travelled all over the world including places like Antarctica and the Amazon were he finally was shot by pirates in Brazil. Peter Blake died a true hero's death. He died protecting his mates.

A TRUE HERO  What is a hero?  A hero or heroine is a person or character who, in the face of danger and adversity or from a position of weakness, displays courage or self-sacrifice—that is, heroism—for some greater good  What makes Sir Peter Blake a hero?  He did not give up even when things started going badly.  He achieved amazing feats in yachting history that took courage and perseverance to achieve.  He died protecting his mates.  His life inspired a trust that develops young leaders.

QUOTES  "To win, you have to believe you can do it. You have to be passionate about it. You have to really "want" the result - even if this means years of work. The hardest part of any big project is to begin. We have begun - we are underway - we have a passion. We want to make a difference.“  “Having vision is not enough. Change comes through realising the vision and turning it into a reality.”

CREDITS Researched by: Rory Milmine Sources : Sir Peter Blake: An amazing life. By Alan Sefton his life long mate. Sir Peter Blake Trust website For more on Sir Peter Blake see: Wikipedia Sir Peter Blake Adventurer