Peter Blake

Blake was 53 years old when he was killed by pirates in 2001. At the time, he was exploring the Amazon River in Brazil with his yacht Seamaster and crew. Their purpose, specifically, was to study global warming. The attack came as Seamaster was anchored off the Brazilian coast, near the town of Macapa, at the mouth of the Amazon River. Blake and his seven crewmates were relaxing before a planned sail the next day to Venezuela. They were playing Scrabble when a row boat pulled soundlessly beside Seamaster. and several armed men wearing masks climbed aboard.

Blake's crew dove to the deck, but not Blake. Determined to defend his ship, he went below deck to retrieve a rifle he had stored there for defense against wild animals. By the time he came back on deck, one of the pirates was pointing a gun at the head of one of Blake's crew. Blake shouted at the pirates to get off his boat, and the pirate holding the gun began to back away, now aiming his gun at Blake. Shots were fired, and Blake's rifle jammed. Before he could bring it to bear again, he was shot two times in the back by the fleeing pirates, and killed almost instantly. One of Blake's crewmates was grazed by a bullet, but the rest escaped unscathed. The pirates were arrested in the hours following the attack, and each of them was sentenced to up to 37 years in jail.

Blake was buried in a simple grave just steps from the ocean in the small English hamlet of Warblington, where he and his family had made their home since the 1970s. The prime minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark, spoke at the funeral, saying, according to the BBC, "Peter Blake was a living legend. I believe that Peter was held in high esteem for many reasons—for his achievements, for his courage, for the causes he espoused, and for being a decent human being."

Blake is survived by his wife Pippa, their daughter, Sarah-Jane, and son, James. "He had this amazing strength," Blake's widow told the Sunday Telegraph of London. "He was 6ft 4in and he had this amazing strength. Yes, we've lost a husband and a father—but it's like we've also lost the backbone to our whole existence. You were always safe with Peter. And that could be at home or at sea."

A consummate sailor, a man admired for his kindness and sense of fair play, and a loving husband and father, Sir Peter Blake will perhaps best be remembered as the man who was most responsible for transforming ocean yacht racing into a sport avidly followed by millions of people around the world.