I thought I should introduce you to the core team that are working with me to deliver on both Project Plastic Soup and the Solo sailing campaign.

Leanne, Georgia and Levi Rose:

It goes without saying that a project this large in scale, requiring this much dedication, motivation, desire and belief is simply not possible without the absolute support of my immediate family. They have to put up with my complete focus, 5:00am starts and so much more…thanks team, it will be worth it in the end! XXX

Simon Kozak-Director of Marketing and Communications:

About mid 2008 I was consulting for Orcon, a fantastic telco here, through this contract I met a guy by the name of Simon Kozak, Simon has a marketing company and Orcon are one of his clients. After working with him a few times I realsised just how talented he is regarding brand devlopment and deployment. I approached him and took him through my objectives for the sailing campaign, he rung me up the next day and said he was in as Director of Marketing and Communications on the basis that when we had funding he took that role formally and was part of the team.

What an amazing contribution Simon has made so far, we spent the ensuing months developing a brand, philosophy, image, single organising idea and much more. It was during this process that I decided on the reason for being as a team was Plastic Soup and all the issues around it.

Nick Cowan-General Manager New Zealand:

Nick was introduced to me through Simon and has already begun to make his presense felt within the team. Until a few weeks ago Nick was the CEO of New Zealand Waterpolo, he is also the manager for one of New Zealand’s leading athletes Valerie Villi and is an ex executive at Adidas New Zealand. Nick is currently working on developing the education program for the potential funding bodies.

Josh Tucker-Sailing Trainer/Partner and Boat Captain:

Josh is for me personally a very important part of the team, he has not only taken me under his wing in sail training but we have got to know each other well enough in a fairly short time to know we are capable of double handed racing together, this will be put to the test in the coming months as we campaign the Team David Rose Offshore Plastic Soup Mini Transat (more on that later) In addition to training and being my sailing partner, Josh will become the the boat captain for the team. Josh has an extensive and very successful yachting career to date including over 80,000 nautical miles on boats as diverse as Hugo Boss the Open 60, Maximus the 100 ft maxi and his own SR 26 Jagged Edge.

4PRO Eyewear

The Wonderful Michelle and Alan Beach of 4Pro (the very best sunglasses in the world) designed right here in Auckland, New Zeland are now supplying David Rose Offshore with the much required eye protection on this enormous journey.

“As you place a pair of 4PRO High Performance sunglasses in front of your eyes, you’ll instantly discover that they’re like no others you’ve ever worn. You’ll begin to see the world with crystal clarity, seemingly mono-toned greens suddenly show themselves in a spectrum of hues while subtle shades of reds, blues and yellows stand out with strengthened intensity, bringing the world into sharp focus.” Check out www.4proeyewear.com

Leon, as the name suggests is my brother, my big little brother as he towers me in height. Leon is a fantastic professional photographer and helped out with the headshots for the team. He was into sailing before me and I would imagine there is going to be some great shots coming off the training sessions soon when we drag him out onto the water.

PHI Creative:

I had been working with Robin Fenn and Lukas Kelly and they were the obvious choice to approach regarding design and working with Simon and I on the brand, the boys along with Jess, Jeremy and the rest of the staff.

The net result is a look and feel that sits perfectly with our core values and objectives..they are currently developing the plastic soup website as phase one of the roll out online.

William and Cam from Explore NZ, Sail NZ, Lion NZ, Dolphin Discoveries,  and Auckland Whale and Dolphin Discovery have been nothing short of fantastic with their support from the very beginning. They have done everything from letting me use their boardroom and offices, bounce ideas off them and much more.

Brian from NZ Board Stores has got in behind the campaign by letting me use a Naish Titan windsurfer for more on the water training (predominantly useful for seeing the wind) and core fitness exercise.

I would also like to thank the many people that have contributed and believed in this campaign who haven’t been named here, you know who you all are…THANKS! dR