The racer’s manifesto-according to the immortal Sir Peter Blake

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peter-blakeThe prankster Ricardo Colares Tavares, who on Dec. 6, 2001, boarded Peter Blake’s boat and gunned him down with a shotgun blast to the back, will not even be able to take pride in having created a myth. When Blake dropped dead instantly on the deck of the Seamaster, moored in the mouth of the Amazon, he was already a myth. He was 53 years old.

After the XXX America’s Cup final, Patrizio Bertelli asked Peter Blake to write the foreword to the book Luna Rossa. A text that has become the racer’s “manifesto” and with which we decided to remember the great sailor

The America’s Cup is a highly coveted trophy, but one that has rarely changed hands. This is not a sport for the faint of heart. This is not an undertaking to be taken lightly or on a whim. is a struggle between yacht club sailors scattered around the world who desperately want the same thing: to get their hands on the Cup. The prestige for the winner is worth more than any other sports award. it is precisely winning the invincible and doing the impossible that fascinates seafarers, dreamers and billionaires. But victory does not come easily. In fact, most of the time it does not come at all. The only way to win is to keep participating, to keep coming back, time after time, with the intimate belief that you can do it.

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Hesitating after the first attempt is not part of the rules of the game. It takes extraordinary people, with iron motivation, great experience, attention to detail and unconditional dedication. It is a game in which, no matter how hard you may try, no matter how motivated you may be, no matter how much you may be willing to spend, victory is never guaranteed. For some it becomes a kind of drug. is a game that you can come to deeply hate, only to find that you can’t help yourself until you win. Then the metamorphosis takes place, or at least that is what happened to me.

Being part of a crew that has once managed to win the America’s Cup and successfully defend it has freed me from that terrible grip on the pit of my stomach. I am fulfilled. I am healed. I sleep well at night and have more dreams. New passions are arising in me. But let’s be clear: competing for the America’s Cup is a game of passion, of dreams, where in every waking (and sleeping) moment you always have one and only one thought, that of winning, but victory is uncertain until you get it. Disappointment and disappointment hurt even when it is others who suffer from it, let alone when you experience it on your own skin.

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You keep asking yourself “how?” and “why?” for whole weeks, until you reach the determination that you have to try again in order not to repeat the same mistake, to do better than before, to be better than the rest of the world, to be the Best. And then anxiety turns into dreams and passion again. The thought of winning never leaves you, but it is best to leave it aside and focus on a new goal: to be the best, in all aspects of the new challenge. Nothing can be left to chance, not even the smallest detail.

But this doesn’t happen just because you want it to. It takes a team of exceptional people who share the same dream and passion and who are not afraid of even the most unfavorable odds. It is the difficulty of the challenge that sets in motion the adrenaline in veins flushed by the disappointment suffered earlier. it is the difficulty of winning that makes the America’s Cup what it is. It is not a game for admirals in the living room. It is not a game for those who are unwilling to return. This is not a game for the faint of heart.

Peter blake

It is the game for those who are not afraid to set themselves against the best the rest of the world has to offer. is a game where winning is almost impossible, almost, but not quite. And that is why it is worth fighting for. is the difficulty that gives meaning to any struggle. Is the very essence of life. To the men of Luna Rossa, I want to say: I admired your sportsmanship, your tenacity and your enthusiasm for life. You have given a very positive image of your country. Your countrymen will be proud of you. You didn’t win this time, but you certainly didn’t lose. You lose when you lack the courage to return. Not winning is part of the learning process that leads to success. For the upcoming challenges, I wish you great luck. Because it is also a matter of luck. But it will not be easy. Good things never are.

Peter Blake

SEA STORIES, DO YOU WANT MORE?
The story we told you is from the volume “Adventures and Myths in the Seas of the World.” There are adventures worth telling and remembering. For this we drew on our historical archives and selected stories of people and sailings that have made sailing history. We tell you about them with extraordinary images and exclusive texts in our special issue “Adventures and Myths in the Seas of the World.” From Jack London to Joshua Slocum, via Moitessier, Tabarly, Robin Knox-Johnston and Peter Blake, all the greatest sea myths are collected for the first time in one special volume.

YOU CAN PURCHASE IT HERE FOR ONLY TWO EUROS!

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