Lady Pippa Blake, wife of the late, great Sir Peter Blake, the charismatic New Zealander who completed the first five Whitbread Round the World Races (which later became the Volvo Ocean Race in 1998), and who won the 1989-90 event with Steinlager 2, is to be the first Ambassador to the Volvo Ocean Race Legends reunion and regatta, which takes place on 1-5 November in Alicante next year.
Lady Pippa Blake, wife of the late, great, Sir Peter Blake, is to be the first Ambassador to the Volvo Ocean Race Legends reunion and regatta - Photo Credit Rick Tomlinson
Pippa, a well-known artist, who lives in the house she shared with Sir Peter by the estuary in Emsworth, UK, is delighted to be involved with this first ever official reunion of boats and people who have taken part in the first 10 races.
“The Whitbread will always hold a special place in my heart,” Pippa said. “So many friendships were made then that still hold good today, and I remember the fun we had travelling the world together. Winning the event in 1989-90 was the culmination of years of planning, something that Peter was very good at.
“The Volvo Ocean Race Legends Regatta will be an event not to be missed, one where friends from all over the world will gather to reminisce, tell stories, remember the good times, the hard times, the glory and the defeat.”
“It will be an amazing sight to see some of the boats that are etched in the history of this event, out on the water in racing trim, and parading out of Alicante at the head of the Volvo fleet. I am very proud to be involved and am looking forward very much to what is sure to be a fabulous week.”
Knut Frostad, Volvo Ocean Race CEO, whose brainchild this event is, welcomed Pippa. “Peter Blake was a sailor’s sailor, a man who was respected by everyone, particularly those against whom he raced. Many of his former crew will be at the Volvo Ocean Race Legends event next year, and we could not be more proud to have Pippa there with us, celebrating the history of this great event.”
The impact that Peter Blake made on round the world racing may never be matched, since he began at the beginning, when it was as much an adventure as a sporting challenge. Perhaps it was the combination of the two that appealed to the young, tall, blond-haired New Zealander, who had gone to England to further his career as a professional sailor.
Blake had made his mark in the lesser arenas, on the east coast of England and on the RORC circuit, including a Fastnet Race in a 35-footer, before joining Les Williams to race the 80-foot Burton Cutter in the inaugural Whitbread Round the World Race.
His hopes, after a first-leg victory, were shattered when the aluminium hull of the boat began to break up south of the Cape of Good Hope. After repairs, the boat was sailed to Rio de Janeiro to race in the last leg to Portsmouth.
It seemed that Blake’s chances were doomed when his choice for the second Whitbread, four years later, evaporated in shards of carbon fibre when the experimental mast of Heath’s Condor tumbled to the deck on the first leg. But, when that same boat arrived first into Blake’s homet of Auckland, NewZealand he determined that he would skipper an all-Kiwi boat in the next race.
With the Brue Farr designed Ceramco New Zealand, Blake had the tool that he wanted with a hand-picked crew, which was as much about those who were rejected as those chosen.
Still the fates turned against him in that third race, 1981-82. A dismasting in the Atlantic, close to where Heath’s Condor’s had failed four years earlier, ended his dream of overall victory, although he did claim two of the remaining three legs on corrected time.
Turning to Ron Holland for his next boat, Lion New Zealand, Blake finished second overall in the fourth race (1985-86), but this simply wasn’t good enough for the determined perfectionist. In 1989, he overcame a disastrous building fault, scrapped the first hull, and produced the ultimate in maxi-rating ketches, the 83-foot Steinlager 2, another Farr Yacht Design creation.
With ‘Big Red’ as the boat became known, Blake was able to achieve the ambition that had reached obsessive proportions in the most definitive manner possible. He won every one of the six legs. Game, set and match.
This extract first appeared as dedication to Sir Peter Blake by UK journalist Bob Fisher in Fighting Finish, the official book of the Volvo Ocean Race 2001-02, written by Gary Jobson.
