Photos: L ©2008 Volvo Ocean Race / Louay Habib R Team Russia

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Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:00:00 UTC

For Vladimir Kulinichenko, recently announced as sail maker for Team Russia, the chance to compete in another Whitbread/Volvo was one he thought would never come his way again.

‘Kuli’ was onboard the first Soviet Whitbread boat Fasizi in 1989-90 and later Odessa and Hetman Sahaidachny.

He has been plying his trade in the United States since 1995 and competing at grand prix level in a variety of yachts. That was until the lure of ocean racing became too great. Just like it did with Fasizi.

Speaking about that campaign under the American Skip Novak, Kuli says: “It is what I had been dreaming of all my life, every day in a dinghy as a kid.

“In Russia we didn’t get much information about the round the world race, we knew it was going on but it was not in the newspapers. I read a lot of books about ocean racing and it was my dream to sail around the world for a long, long time.”

But life on board Fasizi was anything but dreamy. She was not well equipped for the job. Designed with little freeboard, her decks were often under water, down below was cramped and very little ventilation meant sweltering heat in the tropics and a cold, damp existence in the frozen south. Kuli joined the boat in Fremantle and he remembers the first leg, like it was yesterday.

“I remember counting down the days to Cape Horn, it was a huge thing for me to go past it, we gave some vodka to King Neptune and it was the first time for all of the crew except Skip. I did all of the rest of the race, it was hard but I was so glad to do it.”

The 2008-09 Russian campaign, says Kulinichenko, is worlds apart.

“There is no comparison. Fasizi was successful in so much as it was great exposure for Russian sailing but Team Russia have a much more professional approach and although we are looking for more sponsorship, we have a budget to produce a good boat and sails.

“I am really excited about the race; everything is brand new to me, every port is different to 1989 so I am really excited to visit these places. Rio de Janeiro is a special place from me. A little tradition from my home town, Odessa, is a comic book called The Twelve Chairs. At the end of the story the character Ostap Bender walks on Copacabana beach dressed totally in white and so I am going to do it when I get to Rio and all my friends will be so jealous.

“Really, I am a bit old at 48 to do the whole race but if I could chose to sail just one leg it would be the finish into St Petersburg that would be the ultimate goal.

“A Russian sailing into St Petersburg to finish the Volvo Ocean Race would be my proudest moment. It wouldn’t get better than that.”

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