Sir Peter Blake 1948 - 2001

“HAVING VISION IS NOT ENOUGH. CHANGE COMES FROM REALISING THE VISION AND TURNING IT INTO A REALITY”.

SIR PETER BLAKE

• Sir Peter Blake was born in Auckland in 1948 and spent his childhood on the Hauraki Gulf. From a young age, he was a talented and competitive sailor, winning many races, he even won a race in a boat called Bandit that he had built on his parents front lawn.

He went onto become one of New Zealand’s greatest yachtsman. He won the Whitbread Round the World Race: the Jules Verne Trophy – setting the fastest time around the world of 74 days, 22 hours, 17 minutes and 22 seconds on the catamaran, Enza

In 1995, Blake, leading his crew on the NZL 32, “ Black Magic” beat off his American Rival, Dennis Connor to win the America’s Cup Challenge. He was wearing his “ lucky red socks”, a present from his wife. New Zealanders supported the Challenge by buying & putting on their own red socks.

• Today, Sir Peter’s lucky red socks have become a symbol of kiwi spirit and Red Socks Day is a chance to celebrate leadership in action, what it means to be a New Zealander, and to remember a Kiwi legend

• After all his successes and achievements with his sailing career, Sir Peter Blake wanted to give something back to the community and the wider world by throwing his time and energy into building public awareness of the threats facing the environment, particularly water and he set up an environmental organisation called Blakexpeditions.

• He led expeditions to Antartica and the Amazon in 2001. He was also named Special Envoy for the U.N Environment Programme. He began filming documentaries for his company, Blakexpedition.

Whilst on a 2 month expedition sailing up the Amazon River, Sir Peter Blake was tragically killed by Pirates. New Zealand mourned the untimely death of a talented sailor, an inspiring leader and a dedicated family man.

Sir Peter Blake’s life was tragically cut short, but those that knew him vowed that his work would live on, The Sir Peter Blake Trust was launched in 2004.This Trust aims to inspire and celebrate environmental awareness, adventure & leadership in action.

Sir Peter Blake believed in the incredible potential of

young kiwis to achieve great things and that inspiring leaders of any age could be found in all corners of New Zealand.

The Sir Peter Blake Young Leader Award, in association with Westpac, recognises young people who have shown promising leadership in their schools and communities. The award is made to one student in each primary and intermediate school selected by teachers and peers.

The Story of Sir Peter Blake. The award-winning children’s author

Tessa Duder has written a soon to be published book about the exciting life of the great New Zealander, revealing what made him an inspirational leader.