DMS Join Forces With Legendary Southwest Sailor Pete Goss MBE To Tell The World Of Plastic Packaging That It's Time To PACK IT IN!
On his first solo ocean race since his heroic completion of the 1996 Vendee Globe, when he rescued fellow competitor Raphael Dinelli in the Southern Ocean, Pete Goss enters the gruelling 3500-mile Route du Rhum race in the Class 40 category and is confident in his abilities to get a result while inspiring race fans about the possibilities of changing business and consumer habits via the boats jaw-dropping graphics.
Partnering with Team Concise, winners of last year’s Class 40 World Championship, Pete and DMS enter a brand new boat into the Route du Rhum race which commences from St Malo ( France) on Sunday 31st October 2010. The boat (named DMS) showcases specially commissioned artwork from one of the UK’s leading street art duos and captures DMS’s experiences of reducing plastic packaging throughout their business of Creative Packaging Solutions and supplying CD, DVD and Vinyl Records to the music and creative industries.
Speaking about his pro-active business approach, DMS Managing Director Dave Summers said “Over the past 10 years we have built up a global business that now produces more than 2500 individual releases per year from independent artists through to multinational blue-chip companies. This results in millions of individual records and packaging units, which up until 2008 we manufactured in 90% plastic.” Since 2008 DMS have offered a full range of low-carbon creative packaging solutions which have become increasingly popular with both their clients and the end user. Summers continued, “Currently, only 10% of our total packaging output contains plastic.”
Commenting on the race and partnership with DMS, Pete Goss said “I’m very excited about competing in the Route du Rhum, it’s a major fixture on the racing calendar which sees more than a quarter of a million spectators on the start line cheering the field on. Weather permitting, I’m expecting to complete the race in around 21 days.” He continued, “It’s fantastic to have the support of DMS and I’m over the moon with the boat graphics, it truly is a first in the sailing world and I’m sure it will prompt business leaders and consumers to consider more ethical purchase decisions on their creative packaging.” Goss continued, “As ocean sailors we’re more aware of the issues of plastic pollution in the world’s oceans than others. PACK IT IN! is designed to make people consider the simple solutions we can all take to stop a huge problem becoming even larger”.
Created by leading street artists Danny Capozzi and Phil Rees, contemporaries of guerrilla street artist Banksy, the PACK IT IN! artwork allows urban art to set sail on a dramatic new canvas.
Speaking about the PACK IT IN! artwork Danny said, “It’s great to be able to work on such a large-scale mobile canvas that will be viewed the world over. Often art is confined to the space and audience which it’s commissioned for, but PACK IT IN! has got some serious miles ahead of it and will be spreading an important message throughout its journey, plus it’s really exciting to push the boundaries of sailing livery.” When asked about the central character of the design Phil said “Barney is a neptune-esque character, the ultimate Eco Warrior from the deep who is fed up with plastic packaging littering his oceans and he’s there to strike fear into the hearts of the ignorant, and maybe even some of Pete’s competitors!”
Pete Goss now focuses on the final preparations of his race equipment and sea trials before the race start on 31st October. The official naming ceremony of DMS and campaign launch party will take place from 5pm on 29th September at Mayflower Steps, The Barbican, Plymouth, with Dave Summers’ environmental mentor Alison Tickell, Director and Founder of environmental group Julies Bicycle, charged with officially naming the boat.
To follow race updates and track DMS and Pete's progress in the race please visit: www.petegoss.com or www.routedurhum.com
About Pete Goss MBE
British sailor and inspirational character Pete Goss MBE, 49, is a West Countryman and former Royal Marine who is no stranger to adventure.
His last ocean voyage 2008/9 aboard The Spirit of Mystery, was a recreation of a voyage that shone a light on the bravery of seven Cornishmen who made the same journey 155 years ago aboard the smallest migrant vessel ever to make it to Australia from the UK, and was just the latest in a long line of seafaring adventures.
His 2006 Two-handed Round Britain and Ireland Yacht Race marked his last competitive sailing adventure, having previously competed in six transatlantic and two round-the-World races. The most recognized of these was the 1996/7 Vendee Globe non-stop single-handed round the world yacht race in his Open 50 yacht 'Aqua Quorum'. It was this race which turned Pete into a national hero for the dramatic rescue of fellow competitor Raphael Dinelli in hurricane-force winds. Pete was awarded the MBE by HM The Queen and the Legion d'Honneur by the French President.
Pete’s other sailing exploits include training and leading a previously inexperienced crew of ten through what is generally held to be the toughest yacht race in the World – The British Steel Challenge. The route goes the ‘wrong way’ around the World, against the prevailing winds and currents. Pete proudly led the team aboard Hofbrau into third place. In 1988 he defied convention by finishing second in the Carlsberg Single handed Transatlantic Race, sailing ‘Cornish Meadow’, a tiny catamaran just 26 feet in length. This was Pete’s first project, but proved that small, lightweight multi-hulls can be viable giant-killing race boats.
At the turn of the Millennium Pete gathered together the team and sponsors that enabled the construction of the World-famous giant catamaran 'Team Philips' – this was a five year project that ended with the sad loss of the boat, but thankfully not the crew, in a freak mid-Atlantic storm in December 2000. The project will always be remembered for its inspirational vision and accomplishments in technology and yacht design.
About The Route Du Rhum
A Historic Race – ‘3,550 nautical miles of racing, alone, against the elements!’
The Route du Rhum race, created in 1978 by Michel Etevenon, is a single-handed transatlatic sail yacht race organised every four years. It is a non-stop race across 3,550 nautical miles from Saint-Malo (FRANCE) to Pointe-à-Pitre in Guadeloupe (FRENCH CARIBBEAN). It is open to boats measuring from 40 foot to 60 foot in length, monohulls and multihulls, professionals and Corinthians, provided they meet the safety requirements imposed by the international sporting authorities and the organisers, and duly qualify in accordance with the rules in the Notice of Race.
The 2010 race is set to be another historic edition of the Route du Rhum with 83 competitors, the events largest field to date, positioning themselves on the starting line on 31st October 2010. For more information visit: www.routedurhum.com