Peter Blake

Sir Peter James Blake (1 October 1948 – 5 December 2001) was a New Zealand yachtsman who won the 1989–1990 Whitbread Round the World Race, held the Jules Verne Trophy from 1994 to 1997 by setting the around the world sailing record as co-skipper of ENZA New Zealand, and led New Zealand to successive victories in the America's Cup. Blake was shot and killed by pirates while monitoring environment change on the Amazon River on 5 December 2001. He was 53 years old. Early life and education Blake was born in 1948 in Auckland, New Zealand, to artist and art director Brian Blake and photography engraver Joyce Wilson. He was the second of their four children. He grew up in the suburb of Bayswater and attended school at Bayswater School, Belmont Intermediate and Takapuna Grammar School. Blake was passionate about sailing from an early age; he began sailing at the age of five in the family dinghy. At age 18, he and his brother built a keel yacht and won the 1967/68 New Zealand Junior Offshore Group Championship.