Irreverence

posted on 30 July 2008 14:10

Brocade is sponsoring Roz Savage to become the first woman to row on her own across the Pacific Ocean in a 24-foot boat called .... wait for it ... The Brocade.

It isn't a non-stop row, involving instead three stages, the first one being 2,300 miles from San Francisco to Hawaii. She left San Francisco on May 25th and is now about half way to Hawaii. In early 2009, she will continue for another 2,600 miles to Tuvalu in the Southwest Pacific, followed by the final leg of her passage to Australia. If successful, she will have rowed 7,200 miles over three years, and will be the first woman in history to row solo across the Pacific Ocean.

This is Roz Savage's second attempt. An earlier one in June 2007 was defeated by gale force winds and 20-foot-high waves which capsized her boat several times.

The row is supposed to raise awareness about the devastating effect plastic pollution is having on the planet's oceans and marine wildlife.
 
Brocade CEO Michael Klayko, uttered this thought: "Our sponsorship of Roz is a way of expanding our overall contribution to heightening the awareness of environmental issues. As corporate citizens, we all have a responsibility to prevent pollution, lessen our carbon footprint, and consume less energy. At Brocade, we focus on developing products to provide for 'greener' data centers. We applaud and admire Roz's efforts to raise awareness about environmental issues on her extraordinary voyage."

She is also sponsored by the Blue Frontier Campaign, a non-profit marine conservation organisation.

David Helvarg, President of the Blue Frontier Campaign, said: "I believe in what I call The Roz Savage challenge. If Roz can row entire oceans to raise awareness of our blue planet in peril from plastic pollution and other environmental abuses, what can each of us do in our daily lives to help make a difference? We're also honored that as a project of the Blue Frontier Campaign, Roz has chosen to carry a copy of our book 50 Ways to Save the Ocean, aboard the Brocade on her historic Pacific row. She's also come up with a fifty-first way to save the ocean: Do an awe-inspiring act of navigation, endurance, and courage that will inspire others to act."

Wow, can that man utter creamy BS or what!

This trip is possibly more about a woman determined to achieve a fantastic goal and seizing on the pure ocean angle as a way of marketing the trip in language sponsors will understand and want to use to push their own agendas. Good luck to them.

There's got to be gag material here about Brocade believing in a high fibre diet being a good idea.

It is probably extremely indelicate to ask but what items will Roz dispose of in the ocean en route and are these to be regarded as polluting environment abuses? There could be quite a few puppies trailing in her wake.

^{[Chris Mellor.]}