Captain Wes Cooper hails from New Zealand. His career in yachting has been a natural evolution.  He spent his youth participating in competitive dinghy sailing while he trained as a shipwright. He obtained his Master Shipwright Certificate after completing a full apprenticeship in Auckland. He then went down to the South Island to pursue his other passion—skiing. Eventually, after several back-to-back winters between the US and NZ, he decided to hang up his snow boots and over a period of six years, created a boat building business in Wanaka, NZ. At age 29 he flew to the other side of the world to pursue a career on the ocean.

For the last ten years, he has been aboard sailing yachts and has enjoyed over 150,000 miles spent blue water cruising in different parts of the world. He spent six years captaining a 38-meter ketch in the Fjords of Norway and Scotland's outer islands and then spent a couple of years navigating in Captain Cook’s wake through French Polynesia, Fiji and the Pacific. From then on the yachts got steadily bigger, culminating in his being First Officer and Sail Master aboard the world’s second largest privately owned Triple Masted Gaff Rigged Schooner, the 90-meter S/Y Athena. Now, as skipper of S/Y Marie, Wes has found his perfect yacht--and the perfect fit for his passions.

Spare time is a rare commodity for a Captain but when he does get the chance, Wes loves any opportunity to refresh his Commercial Helicopter Pilot’s license and get up in the sky!

Wes is looking forward to welcoming future guests onboard Marie, providing them with a safe, yet exhilarating cruise wherever their fancy takes them.

Jim’s home is in beautiful Breckenridge, Colorado. The town serves him well and he can find all his favorite pastimes just a stone’s throw away. He is an avid skier and so fortunately for him, his house is merely a short walk to the ski lift.  You will also find him hiking in the mountains, riding motorcycles and fly-fishing. 

Jim grew up in Arizona and Colorado, but as a young man was drawn to the sea.  After attending university in Tucson, he headed east to become a boat builder.  A few years in Maine were enough to convince him to move on to more tropical climes.  His route south began in the Caribbean.  Initially he went to rebuild a boat, which, after completion, offered him the chance to stay on as the engineer.  His next port of call was Tortola in the stunning British Virgin Islands, where he took on the challenge of running a bareboat charter base.  The following years Jim spent in New Zealand where he built composite racing yachts. Then finally he took the leap and entered the all-consuming industry of yachting.  The nomadic lifestyle suited him well and he quickly and confidently climbed the ranks from Mate and Engineer to Captain. 

Life on yachts has taken him as far north as the Norwegian Fjords, and as far south as the Cape of Good Hope, from the Western Pacific to the Eastern Indian Ocean on Expedition type motor yachts and large sailing yachts.  After thirteen years helming Super Yachts, Jim is now perfectly placed onboard the wonderful modern classic Marie.  He is excited about future travels with guests and crew.  He is also eager to check out Marie’s reputation for reeling in those superstar catches of Tuna, Mahi and Wahoo.  His taste buds are awakened, and he knows that his favorite sushi and sashimi are not far away. 

Hailing from South Australia, Jeff spent his youth in the water or at the beach sailing dinghies and windsurfing. He later graduated to racing keelboats and participated in club racing and blue water racing, including participating in the famous Sydney to Hobart Race in 1998.

During the same year he bought his own 30-ft. keelboat, living onboard and sailing around much of Australia from the West Coast through the Bass Straight and up the East Coast of Australia to Cairns and the Whitsunday Islands. In order to support his sailing habit he utilized his electrical training working in high-rise buildings, installing lift shafts. Next he took his versatile trade experience to work in mines and then on submarines.

Jeff’s duties aboard the submarines involved commissioning electrical systems and interfacing them with hydraulic and pneumatic systems, as well as calibrating instruments and gauges before they could be handed over to the Navy. Yet being below water on a full-time basis just didn't feel right so in 2000 he obtained his Dive Master certification and made the move to the Great Barrier Reef to work on dive boats. 

Following that experience Jeff was introduced to the superyacht industry via a friend and made the move to the other side of the world where he started working as a Marine engineer on motor yachts. The move not only provided him with a new career but also a wife! In Florida, he met Kristin and got married. Since then they have both been working and traveling together, spending many years working on yachts that cruised extensively in the Caribbean, Bahamas and East Coast of the States. Jeff took some time to obtain his Yacht Master and official Engineering licenses.

Jeff is very excited to be part of the  Marie crew and relishes the challenge of trouble shooting and keeping everything running smoothly, whilst also getting to enjoy some world class sailing onboard.

Pierpaolo was born in the North West of Italy in the nautical town of Genoa.  He later moved across the border to Lugano in Switzerland where he now resides when not on board Marie.  Pierpaolo is passionate about everything he does and does everything with great enthusiasm.  His love of languages is obvious as in addition to his native Italian, he is fluent in English, Spanish and French, and conversant in Portuguese.

He started racing dinghies when he was just eleven years old at the same Club where he had been rowing from an earlier age.  As he got older the yacht got bigger. He started his career as the skipper of a 45- foot yacht and spent the following years cruising, racing and delivering boats around the world covering almost 300,000 nautical miles between the Baltic Sea, Western and Eastern Mediterranean, Caribbean, South Pacific, South Africa, West and East Coast of USA and Central America.  He had the opportunity to work as a build captain on several 100- foot Southern Wind Shipyard yachts, then ran these vessels for deliveries and racing.  Pierpaolo also possesses an engineering ticket and a Master Ocean 200 Ton.  He boasts an impressive career, having worked on many prestigious sailing yachts around the world.  He has completed all the modules for Chief Mate MCA 3000 Ton and is working toward the Master MCA 500 Ton license. 

He has joined Marie as First Officer in order to gain more ‘super-yacht’ experience.

Tom was born and raised in Norwich, England. Hailing from a family of pilots, he spent his early years surrounded by aircraft. Flying planes seemed like the natural career path to follow until he discovered sailing. Tom learned how to sail on the lakes near to his home and around the North Sea. It became more and more obvious that sailing would become more than just a hobby, but a well chosen career. Tom completed his Yacht Master qualification at the young age of 18 and was off to Turkey to work as a sailing instructor with Sunsail.

Tom is also an accomplished Divemaster. He spent time on the Eastern side of Thailand, on the island of Koh Tao giving guided dives throughout the area. Naturally his path has lead him to the Superyacht world, from Southeast Asia, to the Mediteranean and to the Caribbean. He is extremely happy to be a part of the Marie team, especially alongside his partner Gioia Gracis. He is eager to race, sail and explore, and most of all have fun.

Gioia was born and raised with sailing in her blood. Coming from an adventurous Italian family, she was born in Grenada, in the Caribbean. She spent her early years growing up in Antigua around sailing, sun, and the sea. Her adventuresome family seeking a new cultural experience decided to sail to Cuba where they settled for the next 5 years. Then upon discovering Mexico, her parents then decided to settle there, and this is still where they call home. Completing college with honors in Communications and Humanities, and being fluent in 3 languages, she decided to depart for a new adventure.

Being a natural traveler Gioia discovered the super yacht industry, combining her love of sailing with exploring and meeting great people. Her first impulse, coming from an Italian family, was to become a chef, so she decided to further her qualifications with The Gables School of Cookery. Since then she has worked as chef and stewardess, making her way on deck where she is able to pursue her passion for sailing while working side by side with her partner Thomas Hollyhomes. She has now obtained her Yacht Masters qualification.

In her spare time Gioia enjoys creative tasks such as working with leather and knitting, as well as diving, hiking and exploring new areas.

Kristin was born in sunny Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and for her, the “yachting capital of America” is still very much home. At an early age she developed a love for travel and exploration.  Every summer afforded an exciting cross country trip or camping expedition in the canyons of New Mexico and Utah, up to the Appalachian Mountains from Georgia to Virginia, or round the Great Lakes and the Big Horn Mountains of Canada.

A family holiday in Europe piqued her interest to study art and design. She spent several years studying Interior Design and Theatrical Art Design at Florida State University, where she earned her Masters Degree in Set Design for Theatre. Her studies included two semesters in London with an apprenticeship painting for popular West End productions. Back home she found her niche painting sets for such productions as “The Music Man” and “Grease” in various theaters across the eastern seaboard.

Back home, she met an Aussie named Jeff and he led her into a career that promised more travel and exploration than theatre ever would. The two have been working together on many different yachts for the last ten years, mainly sailing the Caribbean, Mediterranean, and East Coast of the United States.

In her prior job as sole stewardess aboard the Bosarge family's other sailing yacht, Tenacious, she became an integral part of the build project of Marie. She is proud to have been part of such an amazing endeavor from the start and once again her interior design skills were fully utilized when it came to the organization and development of the interior. Kristin and Emma collaborate, both bringing a complementary set of skills and qualities to their jobs.  They will take care of all the details both big and small, allowing you to concentrate on nothing more than enjoying relaxing and being pampered.

Living in the north of England, sailing was not part of Emma’s upbringing.  After school, she apprenticed as a travel consultant but being behind a desk didn’t suit her travel lust so she moved to Greece to work as a holiday guide with Thomas Cook.  For her next career move, she worked as an airline stewardess with Virgin Atlantic Airlines traveling to Asia, Africa and the United States.  It was here that Emma developed a knack for customer service and realized more than anything, she loved meeting new people and seeing different parts of the world.

It was her brother who introduced her into the yachting industry and she obtained work as a stewardess on such yachts as M/Y Lady Feryal and M/Y Blind Date Too cruising throughout Italy, France, Greece and Turkey. She then moved from power to sail and joined the performance cruiser S/Y Blues and made two Atlantic crossings, with revolving seasons between the Med and the Caribbean.  Working on such a prestigious sailboat inspired Emma to take private sailing lessons during her down time in Turkey.  With her experience gained from Blues and her newfound knowledge from her lessons, Emma quickly began to show promising signs to her instructor and before long she was part of a race crew on a 40-foot boat called S/Y First Lady.    

Emma has now made a seamless transition to S/Y Marie. As if by magic everything just seemed to fit: a great crew, friendly owners and an awesome itinerary.