Peter Blake murdered?

[Roberto]

Dec 6th, 1542h

Just read this on a news agency, he was supposedly murdered during his Amazon expedition by "pirates", does anyone know anything?

 

[ccscott49]

Just heard, on this website, announced at the paris boat show aswell!

 

[Roberto]

This is from Reuters, hope they won t mind posting it here..

PARIS, Dec 6 (Reuters) - America's Cup winner Peter Blake, one of the most successful sailors in yachting history, was killed in a shooting in Amazonia on Thursday after an attack by pirates, his sponsors said.
New Zealander Blake, 53, was aboard a boat with his crew when they were attacked by the pirates and he was shot dead, the sponsors, Omega, said.
The New Zealander, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth, won the America's Cup twice in 1995 and 2000 with Team New Zealand.
Blake was involved in an expedition on the Amazon River in his "Seamaster" boat to raise international awareness of the threatened environment. He kept a daily log on a website about his progress.
The log for Thursday read: "Location-Rio Amazonas. Status-Still motoring. Conditions-pleasant."
Blake said in his log that the boat had been travelling down the Amazon at night.
"Dusk has turned the surface of the river into a greasy grey -- with the sky quickly darkening after the sun's orange and golds have gone," he wrote.
"We always hope for a clear night and tonight the moon will be up soon after 9 p.m. but this means two and a half hours of real blackness before then.
"There are flashes of lightning up ahead -- with the radar showing a band of rain stretching out either side of our course. There are lights of ships, barge traffic, ferries and small towns."

 

[Will_M]

This sad news even made it on BBC Radio 1...

 

[Twister_Ken]

It's the worst news I've heard since September 11.

I met PB a couple of times in his Whitbread days, and once had the joy of steering Ceramco NZ up and down the Solent with just Peter and Pippa and a couple of my sailing buddies aboard.

He was a great bloke.

 

[LadyInBed]

Re: Peter Blake murder

Sad News.
It looks like it’s a risk you run if you venture off the beaten track these days.

 

[Karl]

Re: What sad news

Having met both Peter and Pippa on a couple of occassions I can only say that I am saddened that such a terrible thing has happened. I, and I'm sure the majority of the sailing world can only send our sympathies and thoughts to Pippa and the families involved. The sailing world has lost a great person.

 

[kimhollamby]

The story is sadly true. Reports are on ybw.com news section, along with links to an audio interview with him prior to his departure.

 

[rbrooks]

I read in the a local paper that The police have arrested 6 people in connection with his death.

R