We remember the man who gave this race its identity…
Today we honour Sir Peter Blake, who participated in the first edition of The Whitbread Round the World Race in 1973-74 and would take on five consecutive races, finally winning in impressive fashion on board Steinlager 2 in 1989-90.
He gave us the famous, oft-repeated quote describing the challenge of the Race and his passion for competing, that is as true today as it was when he said it:
“You’ll be probably frightened at times, scared, worried. You’ll hate it, you’ll absolutely despise the fact that you’re involved and when you get to the finish, you’ll know why: because there’s nothing like it. It gets in the blood and you can’t get rid of it.”
After his racing career ended, Blake turned is attention to sustainability causes and he was on one such expedition to the Amazon when he was tragically killed by pirates on 5 December 2001.
Today we remember ‘Blakey’ and send our love to his family and legion of friends all around the world.
