One man who is looking on with envy and interest at the Russian campaign for the 2008-09 race is four-time Whitbread veteran Skip Novak.
After American Novak made his debut in the 1977-78 Whitbread (King’s Legend), then sailed in subsequent races in 1981-82 (Alaska Eagle) and 1985-86 (Drum), he became a member of the Fazisi crew in 1989-90, the first entry from the former Soviet Union.