Funeral of yachting hero

Pallbearers carry the coffin of Sir Peter Blake

The funeral of yachting legend Sir Peter Blake, who was killed by pirates in the Amazon, has taken place in Hampshire.

His ship Seamaster was awaiting customs clearance off the town of Macapa in Brazil when a gang of intruders stormed on board.

Sir Peter, a New Zealander by birth but who had lived in Hampshire since the 1960s, tried to fight them off, but was killed by two shots in the back during the incident on 6 December.

Mourners gathered at the yachtsman's parish church of St Thomas a Becket in Warblington to pay their respects on Friday.

Prime Minister Clark arrives for the funeral

New Zealand's Prime Minister Helen Clark attended the funeral and told mourners how there was a sense of "immense loss" in her country.

Among the 1,000-strong congregation were yachtswomen Ellen MacArthur and Tracy Edwards.

Hundreds gathered outside the church to listen to a loudspeaker relay of the hour-long service.

Also in attendance were many friends of Sir Peter's from his sailing career, which included his victory in the Whitbread Round the World Race in 1989 and the Jules Verne Trophy in 1994.

Reverend Douglas Caiger, who performed the marriage ceremony for Sir Peter and Pippa, conducted the funeral service.

He cut a heroic figure to New Zealanders as we followed his voyages imagining him pitting his skills

Helen Clark, New Zealand Prime Minister

Sir Peter's coffin was draped in the New Zealand flag and carried into the church by pallbearers wearing red socks, which were his trademark good-luck charm.

Lady Pippa and her children thanked the thousands of well-wishers worldwide who have sent messages of condolences in a statement "celebrating his life of great achievement".

It read: "It is of considerable comfort to them that Sir Peter's life and now his tragic death have touched so many others and that his work in more recent times, to create greater awareness of the need to protect the environment, has not gone unnoticed."

Ms Clark said: "He cut a heroic figure to New Zealanders as we followed his voyages imagining him pitting his skills, and those of his crews, against the world's waters."

Men arrested

Sir Peter's daughter Sarah-Jane, 18, read a poem, Bilbo's Last Song, by JRR Tolkein.

His son James, 14, read an excerpt from his father's last log which recorded how he wanted to "make a difference" to the environment.

Sir Peter was knighted in 1995 and won the Americas Cup in the same year and last year.

In July, the United Nations Environment Programme appointed him as a goodwill ambassador.

Sir Peter was travelling in the Amazon as part of a five-year round-the-world expedition to study the effects of global warming and pollution when he was killed.

Four men arrested by Brazilian police were said to have confessed to shooting him and stealing possessions like cameras and some Omega watches.