Tributes to Peter Blake

Perhaps a British yachting journalist once summed up Sir Peter Blake most appropriately.

If, he wrote, you were on an plane in mid-Atlantic and learned that three of the plane's four engines had died, Sir Peter was precisely the type of man you would like in the pilot's seat. The words were written 20 years ago !

 

He was calm and clear about what he wanted. But he also was fiercely determined, and gave meticulous attention to detail.

He also understood how to be a good leader. He picked crew members with different skills, and gave them the space to do their best. In turn, they trusted him, and were loyal to him.

He had left behind his successes in sport to dedicate himself to creating greater awareness of the need to take better care of the world in which we live.

He was giving it his heart and soul along with all those other virtues he had - total passion, charisma, commitment, leadership and integrity.

His body was flown home to Emsworth, in England, where he was buried near his family home.

Helen Clark, our Prime Minister, flew to England to speak at his funeral. She had stayed with him and his wife on the Seamaster in the Amazon only a few weeks before.

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