Peter Blake

In 1973, the first Whitbread Round the World Race was launched, and the race gave Blake, then 25 years old, his chance to realize his dream to race yachts professionally; he was invited to join the crew of Less Williams, the captain of one of the racing yachts. The ship was a British boat, 80 feet long, called the Burton Cutter. The boat's interior was still being finished as the boat launched on its first leg of the race, and it began to fall apart on the second leg.

Although the ship lost the race, Blake had set firmly forth in his chosen career, and for him there was no turning back. Whitbread races followed every four years, and Blake eventually sailed in a total of five consecutive Whitbreads, becoming the first person to do so. The next race was in 1978-79, also aboard a ship commanded by Williams. On this voyage, Blake served as a watch leader. This boat was called Heath's Condor, and Blake and Williams were joined by Robin Knox-Johnston, with whom Blake was to have a long-standing friendship and partnership. Built with a new-type carbon-fiber mast, the ship ran into trouble during the second week of the race, when the mast collapsed.

After the race, Blake and his crew pulled into the port town of Emsworth, on the south coast of England, to have their boat refitted at the sailing club there. While they were there, Blake met his future wife, Pippa Glanville. Emsworth was Pippa's hometown, and as she later told the Sunday Telegraph of London, "I was in the club having a drink when Peter walked in. I'd never met anyone from the Antipodes before, and he was very tall and very striking, with very, very blond hair and blue eyes. I thought, 'Wow!' No one had ever made such an impression on me."