I go for random. Blake was an aggressive character - well, he had to be to do what he did - and I don't believe he would back down even in the face of people waving guns. And pirates aren't noted, even today, for taking prisoners.

He achieved a lot. He was instrumental, along with Rod Dalton, in putting NZ on the world map in yachting.

I feel sorry for his family, who have had to put up with a lot of absence in the past. I met the Blakes at a function in Wellington one night. Sir Peter didn't really impress me all that much at a personal level - held forth a lot when he joined the group I was with - but Pippa seems a really nice person.

He'll be missed.


The idiot also known as Capfka ...