Yachting: 221 sail in Blake day

By JULIE ASH

Sir Peter Blake would have been proud of the 221 sailors battling it out in a sailing regatta in his memory at the weekend.

The inaugural Sir Peter Blake memorial Torbay youth regatta attracted a record number of entrants from throughout the North Island who slugged it out in trying conditions.

Wind and rain caused havoc on Saturday and on Sunday a 30-knot squall blew through the fleet, breaking several masts and damaging many boats.

"Despite the conditions we had a record number of entrants," said event publicity officer Nigel Hendy.

Lady Pippa Blake, other members of Sir Peter's family and representatives from Team New Zealand attended yesterday's prizegiving.

Also there was Mark Orams, who worked on Sir Peter Blake's Blakexpeditions.

"Sir Peter liked nothing better than to see children testing their skills and enjoying sailing in small boats," said Orams.

"This weekend lives up to that," he said.

Lady Pippa presented the inaugural Sir Peter Blake trophy for the most outstanding achievement throughout the regatta to Marco Grael, who won the Optimist open division. Marco is Prada tactician Torban Grael's son. The regatta was a points-ranking event for Olympic selection.

Herald feature: Peter Blake, 1948-2001