Team Russia was the name of the

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

backed entry in the 2008–09 Volvo Ocean Race. Team Russia was founded by

Oleg Zherebtsov Oleg Zherebtsov (born 21 May 1968) is a Russian businessman, founder of hypermarkets "Lenta" and "Norma", the European sailing champion in 2012 at 12 meters class, the founder of the Association SB20 in Russia, and General Director of the Pharma ...

, the founder of the

Lenta Lenta can refer to: * Lenta (retail), a Russian hyper- and supermarket chain * Lenta, Piedmont, a municipality in Italy * Lenta.ru, a Russian online newspaper * a barley cultivar See also * Lentas Lentas (Greek language, Greek Λέντας) ...

hypermarket chain in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. Zherebstov met former Olympic sailor and professional skipper, Andreas Hanakamp, by chance during a sailing holiday in

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. The

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of Team Russia is Michael Woods, who was director of Race Operations for the 2001-02 race. Their yacht, a second generation

Volvo Open 70 The Volvo Open 70 (sometimes referred to as a Volvo Ocean 70) is the former class of racing yachts designed for the Volvo Ocean Race. It was first used in the 2005–06 race (replacing the Volvo Ocean 60 yachts which were first used in 1993). ...

, was designed by British designer Rob Humphreys and built by Green Marine in

Lymington Lymington is a port town on the west bank of the Lymington River on the Solent, in the New Forest (district), New Forest district of Hampshire, England. The town faces Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, to which there is a Roll-on/roll-off, car ferry s ...

, UK she was christened ''Kosatka'' (which is Russian for

orca The orca (''Orcinus orca''), or killer whale, is a toothed whale and the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family. The only extant species in the genus '' Orcinus'', it is recognizable by its black-and-white-patterned body. A cosmopol ...

or killer whale) at a ceremony at

Gunwharf Quays Gunwharf Quays is a shopping centre located in the Portsea Island, Portsea area of the city of Portsmouth in England. It was constructed in the early 21st century on the site of what had once been HM Gunwharf, Portsmouth. This was one of severa ...

Marina,

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

, UK on Monday June 16, 2008, by the boats godmother Birgitta Westerberg, co-founder (with

), of the Solntse (Sun) Foundation charity for sick and underprivileged children in

St Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. Team Russia had to suspend racing upon arrival in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

at the end of Leg 3 due to "insufficient funds". They officially withdrew from legs 4, 5, and 6 of the race, and whilst the team hoped to rejoin for the last legs of the race, this was not possible, however the team did sail Leg 10 beside the rest of the fleet to their hometown of

Race team

The race team consisted of some previous

Volvo Ocean Race The Ocean Race is a yacht race around the world, held every three or four years since 1973. Originally named the Whitbread Round the World Race after its initiating sponsor, British brewing company Whitbread, in 2001 it became the Volvo Ocean Rac ...

sailors, as well as some newcomers to the event.

WDCS Partnership

The

WDCS Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC), formerly Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society in the UK, is a wildlife charity that is dedicated solely to the worldwide conservation and welfare of all whales, dolphins and porpoises (cetaceans). It ha ...

were announced as the official partner for Team Russia. Kosatka sailed under the log
'We Sail For The Whale’
which calls for the creation of twelve new

marine protected areas A marine protected area (MPA) is a protected area of the world's seas, oceans, estuary, estuaries or in the US, the Great Lakes. These marine areas can come in many forms ranging from wildlife refuges to research facilities. MPAs restrict human ...

for

whales Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully Aquatic animal, aquatic placental mammal, placental marine mammals. As an informal and Colloquialism, colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea ...

and

dolphins A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...

by 2012.WDCS International - Volvo Ocean Race - We sail for the Whale
/ref> :For more information see: WDCS#2008–09 Volvo Ocean Race

References

External links

Team RussiaVolvo Ocean Race
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091226131645/http://www.volvooceanrace.org/ , date=2009-12-26
WDCS: We Sail For The WhaleWDCS Homepage
Volvo Ocean Race teams