KEY DEALS

The Last Great Adventure of Sir Peter Blake Sir Peter Blakes Logbooks

22 years ago

One of the worlds most famous and successful yachtsmen, Sir Peter Blake hadtwice won the Whitbread Round the World Race, conquered the Jules Verne aroundthe world record, and been national manager of the twice victorious Americas Cup team for his native New Zealand.

Turning his attention to the world’s endangered environment, he established the organisation ‘blakexpeditions’ which, backed by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), has a mission to journey to the most eco-sensitive parts of the planet to generate greater global awareness of pressing environmental issues.

Sir Peter’s last adventure began in New Zealand in late 2000 when he set out again across the Southern Ocean to Cape Horn. After exploring the Beagle Canal at the foot of South America, he took his vessel Seamaster south among the icebergs of Antarctica before heading north to the rainforests of Amazonia, where he navigated 1,400 miles up the Amazon and Negro rivers.

More than a year into the voyage, Seamaster was anchored in the mouth of the Amazon, ready to leave at dawn, when it was boarded by river pirates.

Sir Peter was fatally shot while defending his boat and crew.

The Last Great Adventure of Sir Peter Blake is a fitting tribute to an extraordinary man. While suggesting finality, the spirit of his endeavour survives in a book filled with fabulous images by photographers on the voyage and paintings by his wife, Lady Pippa Blake, who had joined for part of the expedition. They convey the raw beauty of some of the Earth’s most remote and astonishing places, which had inspired Sir Peter to want to protect and preserve it for future generations.

This book to treasure was edited by Sir Peter’s long-time friend and companion on many ocean racing campaigns (as well as the final voyage), Alan Sefton, who was also Blake’s partner in blakexpeditions. Hopefully, the book will continue to raise awareness of the issues so important to Blake, for his work was crucial. As UNEP said when endorsing blakexpeditions and its objectives, ‘To adequately address the environmental challenges we face there needs to be a transformation to sustainable lifestyles across all sectors and regions of the world.

Critical in this transformation will be the creation of an informed and aware public.

Initiatives like your own, utilising sophisticated scientific and communication technologies, the appeal of adventure and the power of storytelling, will be an important part of this process.’

The Last Great Adventure of Sir Peter Blake Sir Peter Blake’s Logbooks
Edited by Alan Sefton
Published by Adlard Coles Nautical
ISBN 0 7136 7007 X
Hardback, 216 pages.
Price £25