ALTHOUGH he had one of the largest individual gold medal hauls in Island Games history, Bob Blake will probably be best remembered for driving a truck full of equipment to each competition.
For each games, he would set off at least a week beforehand on the long drives to make sure that every piece of sporting gear — from tennis rackets to basketballs — would be ready and waiting for them.
Mr Blake died last week at the age of 65 following a long battle against cancer.
He represented Jersey at every Island Games since 1993 and won 16 gold med-als for pistol shooting.
In the most recent Island Games, in Rhodes in 2007, Mr Blake carried the Jersey flag, managed the pistol shooting team and won a silver medal in the rapidfire team event.
Although he was recognised as one of the pillars of Jersey’s pistol shooting community, his life encompassed many other sports, including motorsport. He was involved with the Jersey Motorcycle and Light Car club for 25 years and was secretary of the club for many years.
But Mr Blake’s main passion was shooting — and from the 1980s he became heavily involved in the Island’s pistol community. He was the competition and club secretary of the Jersey Pistol Club, fought strongly against tighter re-gulations for shooting in the Island, and became a great ambassador for the sport in Jersey.
Away from the world of shooting, Mr Blake worked for Jersey tyre remoulding firm Kentredder before launching his own company, which sold equipment for remoulding tyres. A trained horticulturist, he also worked for the Jersey Orchid Foundation.
In his spare time, Mr Blake, who was educated in Winchester, where he was born, enjoyed rebuilding engines and was also a keen curator of banknotes. He wrote a book on Irish banknotes which will be published in his honour later in the year.
At the Jersey Sports Council Awards last year, Mr Blake won the prestigious Sid Guy Memorial Award for outstanding long service to sport, although he was not well enough to attend.
Mr Blake, who lived at Mont Millais, St Helier, is survived by his wife Gaynor, to whom he was married for 34 years.
