Blake’s red socks meant to be pink
French friend adds some true colour to anniversary of Kiwi yachting great’s achievements. By Duncan Johnstone.
SIR Peter Blake’s famous red socks might have been pink had his wife Pippa had her way.
The month of May is a time for reflection on the life of the iconic New Zealand sailor.
On May 13, 1995, he led Team New Zealand to their historic America’s Cup victory in San Diego, making this the 25th anniversary. On May 22, 1990, he guided Steinlager 2 across the finish line to win the Whitbread round-the-world race.
Blake’s good friend Christian Fevrier, a French photographer and yachting historian hired to record the 1995 America’s Cup campaign, has delightfully told the tale behind the red socks that became a key fundraising drive for the breakthrough win and have remained a Team New Zealand trademark ever since.
‘‘One afternoon, Peter called me to welcome the return of the two yachts after their daily training,’’ remembers Fevrier, 82, who still publishes his Voiles & Voilers magazine.
Pippa and the Blake’s children James and Sarah-Jane were with Fevrier and Blake on the small boat as they negotiated the San Diego harbour zone.
‘‘On that day, I wore dark pink, very flashy socks. Peter teased me about them. Pippa replied: ‘Peter, why are you joking about the colour of Christian socks ? I love their colour. They gave me the idea to get you a pair of the same colour for Christmas’.’’
Fevrier said Pippa went to a San Diego department store to buy the pink socks, but returned disappointed that she could only find red.
‘‘Anyway, she gave the pair of red socks to Peter at Christmas.
‘‘In January and February, at the time of the Louis Vuitton Cup, Peter decided to wear his red socks when racing. And the only day he missed a race – he had a shoulder pain – Black Magic was beaten by the Australians.
‘‘Later, the clever Peter
Montgomery said on radio,
‘Peter was not aboard today. And we have lost. So the man with the red socks was missing. The man with the lucky red socks was missing’.’’
The rest, as Fevrier says, is history. The red socks became a national cause with money from sales in New Zealand helping fund new sails for Black Magic, which went on to defeat Team Dennis Conner 5-0 in the America’s Cup match.
Blake and his team returned to New Zealand as heroes and set about the successful defence in 2000 in Auckland.
On a darker note, Fevrier has sadly remembered his heartbreak at the death of Blake at the age of 53, when he was shot and killed by pirates in December, 2001.
After crossing the English Channel to attend the funeral service on an icy day at the Warblington chapel, Fevrier and partner Annie didn’t witness Blake’s burial.
But later that afternoon they were advised to return to the cemetery ‘‘to see the beautiful light on the bunches of flowers’’.
‘‘I couldn’t resist. I had missed too much. I needed to give him a last farewell,’’ Fevrier said, saying the cemetery was empty on their return.
‘‘Only the workers doing their last job . . . they had put all the bunches on the lawn to place the coffin in the deep hole. I took pictures of nearly all the flowers, a small testimony for Pippa later. They were the only pictures I did on that day.’’
They sat on a bank next to Blake’s burial site.
‘‘The huge coffin was laying at the bottom. Above the head place, there were his red socks, probably placed there by Pippa.
‘‘At 14.50 it was finished. Annie gave some help to the workers to place the flowers on the grave. He had rounded the planet six times. And now, our friend was deadly sunk. Forever.
‘‘The sun was nearly touching the horizon, delivering its warm red light on the lawn. The sea was shining not far away. Above us a tree with no leaves had some little white blossoms. On a beautiful long bunch of only white flowers and green leaves, one could read: To our incredible hero, husband and father . . . Pippa, James and Sarah-Jane.’’