4 sources · updated 28 Oct 2026
Peter Blake was born on 1 October 1948 in Auckland, New Zealand. He is the only sailor to have taken part in the first five Whitbread Round the World races, first as a crew member then as skipper, and he won the 1989–90 edition aboard Steinlager 2.
In 1994, with Robin Knox-Johnston as co-skipper, he set the fastest non-stop round-the-world time on the catamaran Enza New Zealand, 74 days 22 hours 17 minutes 22 seconds, winning the Jules Verne Trophy.
He then moved to the America's Cup: a win in 1995 with Black Magic, then a further New Zealand victory as defender, with Blake heading the team. He was knighted. Devoted to environmental missions, he was killed by pirates in December 2001 on the Amazon aboard Seamaster.
