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Sarah-Jane Blake, daughter of Sir Peter Blake and crew member of Lion New Zealand
ROLEX/Daniel Forster
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Eight years after her father, the legendary Sir Peter Blake, was murdered aboard his boat while on an environmental crusade in Brazil, daughter Sarah-Jane Blake is only now able to watch footage of her dad. After distancing herself from the tragedy for so many years, Sarah-Jane, 26, is immersing herself in her late father’s past, putting the finishing touches on a museum display of his life back in Auckland and joining the crew of Lion New Zealand for this year’s Rolex Sydney Hobart. It is the same boat Sir Peter Blake helmed to a line honours victory in the tough 1984 Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. Sarah-Jane is one of three offspring from the original Lion New Zealand crew, with 18 year-old Sam Cray and Conrad Gundry also sailing south to Hobart in seven days time to commemorate the silver anniversary of the boat’s historic 1984 triumph. When asked about her famous America’s Cup winning father, Sarah-Jane offers: “He was just our dad, it was normal. Now I’m starting to realise what he did. We were very lucky.” Apart from the time spent aboard boats as a child, including celebrating her second birthday on Lion New Zealand during a cruise from New Zealand to England via the Galapagos Islands, and more recently the Auckland to Noumea Race on the boat, Sarah-Jane has largely kept away from sailing. Instead she’s been working in the UK as a successful artist and set designer. "On the delivery back from the Auckland to Noumea Race we went through some really bad weather and I felt he [dad] was really there,” she said. “For me, there’s an emotional connection to a place where he was. There’s still bits on the boat that he touched,” she trails off. Young Sam Cray recalls: “He [dad] has told me stories of Peter and the crew. Seems like they were overstaffed with 22 on board and playing Scrabble,” said Sam. While they may not be taking the Scrabble board this time, Lion New Zealand will still carry a substantial crew of 21, showing the thinking heading into the tough ocean classic hasn’t changed that much between the generations. “Doing the race with this boat definitely has more meaning for me,” says Sam. The 78 foot Whitbread maxi was built heavy and strong, too heavy to achieve what Sir Peter Blake set out to do, says his daughter. It was built in 1984 and after winning the Sydney Hobart that year it was his entry in the 1985/86 Whitbread Round the World Race. In Sir Peter’s words, “Lion was build to withstand the rigours of the southern ocean bordering Antarctica.” If this year’s Rolex Sydney Hobart brings with it a decent blow, then this older warhorse will merely buck and shake off the salt spray before ploughing on. “If we get a good amount of wind on the nose it will be good,” laughs Sarah-Jane. “We are hoping for bad weather so all the light boats will have a problem and we won’t.” Lion Maritime Development Charitable Trust www.lionnewzealand.com By Lisa Ratcliff/Rolex Sydney Hobart media team
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