America's Cup winner and adventurer Peter Blake was killed by pirates in Brazil today.
New Zealander Blake, 53, one of the most successful sailors in yachting history, was aboard his Seamaster boat with his crew on an expedition up the Amazon River when they were attacked by pirates.
He was shot dead.
A statement from the expedition's organisers said: "The group of seven or eight armed and hooded intruders boarded Seamaster at approximately 10.15pm local time.
"Sir Peter was fatally shot and two other members of Seamaster's crew were injured, one with a gunshot wound across the back, the other with a blow to the face.
"Both injured men are back aboard Seamaster after receiving hospital treatment. The other seven Seamaster crew were badly shaken but unharmed."
Anne Lise Windmill, first-secretary at New Zealand's embassy in Brazil, said the embassy was working with police to establish the facts of the incident.
Blake, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth, won yachting's most high-profile trophy - the America's Cup - in 1995 and 2000 with Team New Zealand.
He won the prestigious Whitbread Round the World Race in 1989 and captured the Jules Verne Trophy in 1994 with a record-breaking non-stop voyage.