http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/internatio...ake-Killed.html

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PARIS (AP) -- Sir Peter Blake, who led New Zealand to the America's Cup sailing championship in 1995 and 2000, was killed by pirates in the Amazon, his race sponsors said Thursday.

The Jour J agency, which represents the Paris organizers of the Louis Vuitton Cup, said the 53-year-old Blake had been on an exploratory trip when he was killed.
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This is such a sad story. He was actually on the Amazon drawing attention to environmental issues in the area. Apparently, his boat was attacked by modern day pirates and he was shot. Kind of striking to realize how sudden life can get even when you are off trying to make a difference.

This is an example of one of those times where it hits me that there are people out there leading lives that are a whole lot more interesting than mine ... and it makes me happy with my boring life.

I hate conspiracy theories, but since he was down there on an "environmental" mission, do you think it was just a random act of theft and piracy? There are folks in the Brazilian Jungle that don't take kindly to preachy westerners trying to impose their environmental agenda on the locals. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if this wasn't that. But then again ... sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

My first thought on reading about this was CITT's last one - essentially, given the almost commonplace kidnapings-for-ransom in certain parts of S.A., can we say "easy pickings" or "rich relatives back in his hime"?


--> Edited to correct CITT's acronym

[ December 06, 2001: Message edited by: Wurm ]