Yachting World has received reports of the death of Sir Peter Blake KBE.

The reports suggest Blake was murdered, shot dead, while anchored off Macapa, Brazil, near the mouth of the Amazon. Blake and his crew were waiting for customs clearance at the end of a two-month expedition up the Amazon onboard Blakexpeditions’ ketch Seamaster.

Blake was killed instantly and two other crew members were injured.

Blake, 53, had recently retired from racing. He was recently appointed a United Nations Environmental Program special ambassador, after taking up a post with the Cousteau Society to promote a greater understanding of the marine ecology. In the Blakexeditions mission statement, Blake outlined his hopes.

“We are passionate and committed to delivering the message that earth is a unique and beautiful place and that we must take better care of it, starting now, otherwise it will soon become a totally different place – one which, we are sure, we won’t like.”

With more than a half-million racing and cruising miles, Peter Blake was a seasoned ocean sailor. Having competed in the first five Whitbread Races, winning his last with an unprecendented clean sweep of every leg in 1989-90 onboard the maxiketch Steinlager II, he turned his talents to the Jules Verne. In 1994, with Sir Robin Knox-Johnston as co-skipper onboard the maxicat ENZA, he beat the record set by Bruno Peyron onboard Commodore Explorer. He was also the mastermind behind Team New Zealand’s victory in the 1995 America’s Cup.

Blake’s numerous accolades include two Sportsman of the Year awards and four Yachtsman of the Year awards. He was named a Member of the British Empire (MBE) in 1983 for services to yachting, and received a knighthood (KBE) from the Queen of England in 1991.

More on this story as it develops.