The day a mighty legend was felled

Saturday, 6 December 2014

Yachting hero Sir Peter Blake was shot dead in South America, his life taken in return for some watches, CDs, cameras, cash and a dinghy.

The 53-year-old environmentalist - who led New Zealand to two America's Cup wins and persuaded a country to wear red socks - had just reached the mouth of the Amazon River, where he and a crew had spent two months monitoring global warming and pollution.

It was December 6, 2001 - 13 years ago today. Aboard the Seamaster, passengers and crew were celebrating their arrival at the river mouth with some beers on deck.

Little did they know that some masked and armed modern-day pirates were coming for them.

English crew member Rodger Moore would recall how he threw his beer in the face of one pirate and was knocked out by a blow with a rifle butt.

Leon Sefton, a cameraman on Seamaster, would later tell a court how he had gone to bed early that night with a sore throat. Eight of the 10 on board stayed out on deck.

The first he heard was 'very loud voices on deck and people stumbling around and things being knocked around'.

He saw Blake in his cabin, the door half closed, and simply suspected he had gone to bed but was disturbed by the noise above.

'[It] made me think I had better get on deck to see what the problem was, not knowing we had been boarded.

'At that time I had no idea of the real reason Peter was in his cabin, which was obviously to get his rifle.'

He tried to get on deck but saw one of the balaclava-wearing pirates pointing a pistol and coming at him. Sefton put his hands in the air.

Behind him, Blake came out of his cabin, rifle at his side, yelling at the pirates to get off his boat.

The pirate retreated, Blake flinched, there was gunfire.

Inside Blake's cabin, Sefton found another rifle and bullets - the latter of which he grabbed to take to Blake in case he needed to reload.

'At that stage I felt we were going to be executed.'

He saw Blake trying to fix his rifle and offered him the bullets. Instead of taking them, Blake ordered Sefton to the bow to clear the hatch as an escape route.

'When I got back to Peter, he was lying down on his back, not moving. His head was resting on the doorway step and when I got to him I realised he was already dead.'

Sefton tried to resuscitate him, but it was hopeless. Meanwhile, the pirates left, taking with them watches, compact discs, cameras and other items, including Blake's rifle and the boat's inflatable dinghy.

Lying dead aboard Seamaster was arguably the world's greatest yachtsman - the man who, more than any other, had made New Zealand the great yachting nation it remains.

Blake's death was 'a shock and such a waste of an important life', Team New Zealand yachting head Tom Schnackenberg said.

Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron commodore Peter Taylor said his contribution to the sport was immeasurable.

'It's an absolute tragedy, he's done more for New Zealand yachting than any other person.'

The Red Socks campaigns - Team New Zealand had sold red socks to raise cash, inspired by a lucky pair of red socks given to Blake before a round-the-world trip - were typical of Sir Peter.

'His charisma drew everyone towards him.'

Even New Zealand's arch-nemesis, American skipper Dennis Conner, was glowing, describing him as 'a hero and role model for the New Zealand people'.

Sir Peter was buried in Britain - where he lived between sailing expeditions - so he could be near his family.

Prime Minister Helen Clark attended the funeral at Warblington on the Hampshire coast.

'The sense of loss has been immense. While New Zealand has lost a national hero, the family has lost a husband, father, son, and brother.'

Back in Brazil following their arrest, the six pirates were far from swashbuckling as they were paraded through media - some shirtless, some without shoes and all staring glumly straight ahead.

In court, they incredibly claimed they had fired in self-defence. They launched ridiculous and unfounded claims that there was cocaine on board. They claimed Blake had fired first.

Judge Jose Magno Linhares was having none of it. He jailed ring leader Ricardo Colares Tavares - who put two bullets in Blake's back - to more than 36 years in jail.

The five others were each jailed for at least 26 years, eight months.

Blake's old friend and business partner Alan Sefton, whose son Leon was aboard, said the sentences, though harsh, were nowhere near enough.