St Petersburg businessman Oleg Zherebtsov liked the Volvo Ocean Race so much he bought his own boat and intends to sail on it. This despite never having contested a serious offshore race before this year's Fastnet. Zherebtsov, the founder of the Russian hypermarket chain Lenta, is bankrolling the Russian Challenge campaign and will be a fully paid up member of the crew, warts and all.

Thirty-nine-year-old Zherebtsov stepped on a yacht for the first time in his life two years ago. In business and in life it is fair to say he likes a challenge.

"I like adventure and I love sailing," he says. As for free-dried food, sleep deprivation, mountainous seas and close shaves with icebergs, time will tell. Russian Challenge was launched in February this year. Andreas Hanakamp, the Austrian former Olympic sailor, will skipper the boat while Michael Woods, the director of operations for the 2001-02 Volvo Ocean Race, is managing the team.

The design team is led by Britain's Rob Humphreys while Green Marine of Lymington on the south-coast of England are overseeing the build. Woods provides a glowing progress report but gives no clues on design. "We have just started putting carbon in the hull and building the deck so we are well on track," he says. "We expect the boat to be out of the shed in early to mid-April and be sailing by late April.

"We are slowly putting the crew together but in reality the timeline for having people in place and actually naming and confirming them is probably the middle of the spring. "Apart from Oleg, the intention is to include some other Russians in the crew. In terms of how many, it's more a question of finding the right people, whether they be Russians or not, with the right talent to sail the boat."

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