fazisi sailboat

Used Yachts For Sale

Sail monohulls 50ft >.

Buy with Confidence

The boat that just won't die

Fazisi, a boat unlike any the whitbread race had ever seen, has always faced challenges. designer vlad murnikov reflects on the life of the legend and how, even battered by a hurricane and plundered by thieves, you can never count the old girl out..

As it often happens these days, the news came through Facebook. The striking hull of a maxi yacht, massive yet graceful, laying on top of the salvage barge, looking very sad with all the deck gear stripped, hatches torn apart, stanchions and pulpits bent, yet looking hauntingly beautiful even in this distressed state. 

For a moment I lost my breath. It was  Fazisi , my dear boat bound for the scrapyard. Mine, not in the sense of the ownership, but the boat that I had conceived, designed and led in a famous race around the world. 

I knew that  Fazisi  was caught in Hurricane Irma in September. She was thrown ashore on one of the Florida Keys some 500 yards from deep water, miraculously undamaged with her rig, keel and rudder intact. Her owners were unable to come up with the money for a rescue operation and left her lying there for four months. Local squatters stripped off the deck hardware and anything of value.

Eventually the boat was picked up off the beach by one of the salvage companies contracted to do the post-hurricane clean-up and ended up on that barge sailing into what appeared to be her last sunset.

First there was a dream

Fazisi  came to life during the dramatic times of the Soviet Union collapse. In the mid-1980s I was an architect, part-time yacht designer and amateur sailor living in Moscow. I had big dreams of sailing the ocean, of racing in the greatest event in the sailing sport, the Whitbread Round the World Race, but I always thought of them as wild, impossible dreams. In the real world I was bound, just like all my fellow Soviet citizens, to live an ordinary and boring strictly regulated life.

But then Gorbachev came to power and things started to change. With little hope of success, I decided to take a leap of faith and launched the  Fazisi  project, trying to seize on the very first opportunity presented by Perestroika. Initially, when I shared my ambitious Whitbread plans with my sailing friends, most found the idea monumentally stupid, even dangerous. That was the reaction I had anticipated, but, surprisingly, a few of them showed encouragement, if not a commitment yet. 

Had I come up with such an idea just a couple years earlier no one would have even listened to me. There was definitely something in the air, brought by the winds of change blowing over Russia that made people start to think differently. We had realized that government control over our lives was easing, that there was a chance, however slim, that for the first time we might get away with a crazy idea like that. It was not very long before we found ourselves moving full speed ahead on a wild roller coaster ride chasing the dream. 

In a country that knew little about sailing and even less about entrepreneurship, I was able, in a short span of just 

two years, to put together a design team and create arguably the most innovative maxi yacht ever, a remarkable 83-foot beauty, to assemble the team of enthusiasts to run the project, build the boat and eventually sail her in the 1989-1990 Whitbread. 

Ours proved to be a turbulent voyage, on the high seas and ashore alike, with incredible ups and downs. We found initial sponsorship in the Soviet Union, enough to launch the project, but not sufficient to complete it. We started boat construction, but it progressed so painstakingly slow, mired by the Soviet inefficiencies, frequent lack of materials and inexperience in boatbuilding, it soon became obvious we were losing the race against time. 

And then, as the hull construction was nearing the end, a civil war broke out in Georgia on the Black Sea where we were building our boat, putting the entire venture in jeopardy.

A flight to freedom

And yet, just a few weeks later, we pulled off an impossible feat, arriving at London’s Heathrow airport to a hero’s welcome aboard a huge cargo plane. As soon as a Ruslan AN-124, the aircraft that brought our entire crew along with the unfinished hull (83 feet long and 20 feet wide) to England, finally came to a rest, its door was unsealed, and a crowd of journalists noisily climbed into the cargo hold. Blinded by camera flashes, confronted by the 

microphones and video cameras pointed in our faces, we felt cornered and overwhelmed by the first tidal wave of publicity. As the media circus continued, the plane’s crew worked quietly behind the scenes to unload the boat. As I stood there on the tarmac, taking in the view of the Heathrow’s hustle and bustle, it suddenly hit me: Yes, we’d made it, we’d managed to escape. 

On an adjoining runway, the supersonic Concorde jet was taxiing after landing. At some point it rolled behind our yacht and lined up with the Ruslan. As if by command, the armada of photographers tripped their shutters; the magnificent sight certainly deserved it.  Fazisi ’s exotic profile emerging from the womb of a Russian cargo plane, the elegant Concorde gliding through the gentle English twilight, the bright-red hammer and sickle on Ruslan’s tail, the British Airways logo emblazoned on the Concorde’s fuselage, all in one glorious shot. Perestroika summed up in a single photo.

At that moment I was both elated and torn by grave doubts. Yes, we’d made it that far, but we were way behind the schedule; it was hard to imagine we could ever make it to the start. 

The  Fazisi  crew performed a miracle. Working around the clock, we completed construction and launched the boat just a few days before the race began. We won the race against time and now anticipated a glorious voyage with strong wind in our sails. We hit the jackpot by landing big-name sponsorship from Pepsi Cola—in the form of a check personally delivered by Dennis Conner—for the pre-start period with the option to cover the entire race. On top of that, American sailor Skip Novak, an experienced Whitbread veteran, joined our team as co-skipper. The great joint venture was born. 

Fazisi-Pepsi without Pepsi

The morning I steered  Fazisi  toward the start line of the Whitbread Round the World Race was absolutely glorious. Jam-packed with spectator yachts of all sizes and shapes, press boats and cruise ships, chartered for the occasion by wealthy sponsors, the Solent was shimmering under the bright blue sky. Puffy, white clouds moved swiftly overhead, pushed by a fresh breeze. At least a dozen helicopters hovered above us. The start of the Whitbread turned out to be a great spectacle, and we were part of it. My great dream had come true. At the gun a magnificent yacht named Fazisi-Pepsi charged across the starting line with both Soviet and American flags waving proudly off her transom to the cheer of thousands of spectators. It was a jubilant start, but what only a few insiders knew was that the team was completely broke. 

 Anticipating a backlash in America for supporting the Soviets, Pepsi’s corporate executives in the last minute chose not to execute the option to continue the company’s sponsorship. It could’ve been a great marketing move for Pepsi, but its decision to withdraw support almost sank everything. In the end we prevailed and completed the race, in the process proving Pepsi’s marketing fears wrong when a few months later  Fazisi  arrived at the Whitbread stopover in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, to the warmest American welcome.

But that came much later. And as  Fazisi  took the start and sailed away under a spinnaker with a giant Pepsi logo nobody knew how far we might go without any money.

Triumph and tragedy 

Improbably, the untried boat with an inexperienced crew finished the first leg in Punta-del-Este, Uruguay, in sixth place in a  fleet of 23 boats, beating most of the world’s best competitors. Considering that London bookies took 100-to-1 bets that we would never even make the start of the race, this was a major success.  We became international news overnight. 

 A few days later  Fazisi  made front-page news again after Russian skipper Aleksei Grishenko was found dead. The fight against never ending obstacles under enormous pressure and no respite in sight proved too much for him. He took his life, leaving a rambling note that explained nothing.  

The tragedy almost ended our journey. But perhaps the thing Russians are most capable of is to unite in the face of tragedy. Deeply shaken and terrified, we somehow summoned our last reserves of energy to continue the journey over the world’s oceans with Novak at the helm. 

Also in Features

• Sailor's Delight
• No passport required
• Cruising connection
• For the love of a boat
• Keeping history alive
• Chasing a dream
• Gifts for Sailors
• New Boat Showcase
• The tradition continues
• America's Cup for All

Sign-Up for News & Stories

Stephens Waring Yacht Design

Spirit of Tradition Yachts Designed In Maine

Home » News » Design » In the Spirit of Fazisi: A Designer’s Notebook.

In the Spirit of Fazisi: A Designer’s Notebook.

Posted on January 25, 2018 and filed under Design , Racing

Fazisi hauling along as she was meant to be. Photo: Chris Barker, via Vlad Murnikov.

What is it with Russians and nostalgia? In movies there’s Nostalghia , Andrei Tarkovksy’s brooding 1988’s film masterpiece about the lurid horrors of a collapsing Soviet Union. (Yeah, this is a boat-design newsletter, get over it.) And in raceboats, there is Fazisi . The brooding 82-foot, late 1980’s Whitbread round-the-world speedster, that ran the 32,932 mile event with no sea trials, little funding and lots of stress. The skipper on the first leg, the poor Aleksei Grishenko, hanged himself from a tree in Uruguay. Leaving American, Skip Novak, to take over the fight making his way around the globe and write a terrific book about his experience: It’s like no other Southern Ocean account: The boat’s 440-pound boom blew up off the Kerguelen Islands. There was no computer, little weather data — “Hey, it’s blowing 60, who knew!” And its global crew, with many true amateurs, faced 24/7  sailing shifts thru the Southern Ocean and beyond, highlighted by flashlight tours through the soaking hull, peering for fatal cracks.

”We made it around the world,” Novak said to the New York Times at the time. ”It’s amazing. It really is a miracle.” No kidding.

The IOR Rule On Steroids.

But then there is Fazisi herself. This boat survives! Not only the ravages of time, but several groundings, including one in Brooklyn and recently in the Florida Keys, when Hurricane Irma tossed her on the beach. She has been salvaged , yet again, according to Fazisi’s designer Vlad Murnikov.

Though there was debate around here as to why we care, we do make our living making order of important boats in years past. And Fazisi somehow called to us. We dug out her design drawings, thanks to Mr. Murnikov. As we broke down her themes and ideas, we had to ask, why in a world where most sensible people run from boats of this era, we care about Fazisi decades later.

Note the deep IOR class influence, but some seriously modern features.

What we forgot was, never mind that careers and lives were on the line, Whitbread races from the late 1980’s were just like any Wednesday night club race: It was handicapped under the International Offshore Rule. Mr. Murnikov confirmed to us the basic idea was to marry an IOR boat with ultra-light displacement raceboats from that time. And it’s clear that all sorts of design considerations were made to make Fazisi fast against that rule. What makes Fazisi unique, is how far those considerations were taken: This boat is seriously outside the design mainstream of that time. Just look at the big sexy maxis of that era , like Romance , Kialoa 3 , and Nirvana .

Fazisi features a narrow, light hull, extreme flare in her topsides shape, and an aggressive rig with serious design details that all pushed the design and build limits of the time. Here’s exactly how:

Her freeboard was low. But reports were, she was dryer and more seaworthy than you might expect.

Thin, Light and Really Far Aft. What jumps out about this boat, is not only how light and narrow she was. But how far aft the keel and ballast were carried. That shows the center of buoyancy is way back behind the rig, and surprising this boat was faster than one might think coming from the reports in the fast-reaching conditions of the open ocean. Murnikov told us that the boat was overbuilt; she floated lower in the water than she should have. Still, with that and her seriously — hell, shockingly — low freeboard, this boat was remarkably seaworthy for her overall shape; and supposedly dryer than the heavier boats she competed against.

“You probably saw pictures of Rothmans or Fisher Pykel completely under water,” Murnikov said in an email. “We never had that much water on deck.”

Serious Flare in the Mid-section : Note how under the middle of this boat, how flared the topsides are. And how strongly faceted she is along the bottom. That’s all about measurement quirks of the IOR, where girth was only captured in specific locations. For all its thinness, this boat was stiffer than you might think.

This early CAD image, shows the flared topsides and long waterline.

A Star boat for the Southern Ocean. As was common in boats of that time, the spar featured a vanishingly small section, was very bendy and had lots of control lines. What makes Fazisi startling is how far aft she carried her sails. The overall feel is like a classic Star boat, with small fore-triangle. Rigs have changed a bunch since. But back then, this was state of the art for sail-shaping and rig tuning.

Wet and Wild to Sail. What is stark, looking back through the eyes of history, is how low the freeboard is on this boat. Like running underwater most of the time kind of low freeboard. In many ways, we bet she was wetter than a modern IMOCA Open 60. Plus, there was essentially no protection for the crew and little thinking for the ergonomics of changing sails and running this craft. We should be thankful what we have learned about off-shore sailing and how important a well-deigned sailing platform is for the crew.

Classics evolve in strange places sometimes …

Deeply Nostalgic Design. Strictly speaking, this boat is an artifact of its time. Once the racing rules became more rational, boats shifted away from the style. Not much has persisted from this era. But still … there is Fazisi. There is something essential here. Like the Lancia Stratos, the amazingly cool, but flawed rally racer from the 1960’s. Maybe, it’s the aggressive, steeply raked, reverse transom, or the flared destroyer-like wave-breaking bow. Or, maybe it’s the back stories of what must have been said and thought on this boat about Soviet Era politics, by men — way in over their heads — often hanging on for their lives. We don’t know.

Regardless, “She became the people’s boat all over the world,” said Murnikov in an email.

“Especially in (New Zealand) and the (United States.) After the Whitbread we brought her back for the Good Will Tour along the entire East Coast. Thousands of people still have fond memories of that time.”

site by: slickfish studios

The global authority in superyachting

• NEWSLETTERS
• Yachts Home
• The Superyacht Directory
• Yacht Reports
• Brokerage News
• The largest yachts in the world
• The Register
• Yacht Advice
• Yacht Design
• 12m to 24m yachts
• Monaco Yacht Show
• Builder Directory
• Designer Directory
• Interior Design Directory
• Naval Architect Directory
• Yachts for sale home
• Motor yachts
• Sailing yachts
• Explorer yachts
• Classic yachts
• Sale Broker Directory
• Charter Home
• Yachts for Charter
• Charter Destinations
• Charter Broker Directory
• Destinations Home
• Mediterranean
• South Pacific
• Rest of the World
• Boat Life Home
• Owners' Experiences
• Interiors Suppliers
• Owners' Club
• Captains' Club
• BOAT Showcase
• Boat Presents
• Events Home
• World Superyacht Awards
• Superyacht Design Festival
• Design and Innovation Awards
• Young Designer of the Year Award
• Artistry and Craft Awards
• Explorer Yachts Summit
• Ocean Talks
• The Ocean Awards
• BOAT Connect
• Between the bays
• Golf Invitational
• Boat Pro Home
• Pricing Plan
• Superyacht Insight
• Product Features
• Premium Content
• Testimonials
• Global Order Book
• Tenders & Equipment

FAZISI is a 25.24 m Sail Yacht, built in Georgia by Poti Sb and delivered in 1989.

Her power comes from a non propelled engine. She has a gross tonnage of 28.0 GT and a 5.79 m beam.

She was designed by Design Group Vtk .

The naval architecture was developed by Mernikov - she is built with a Aluminium deck, a Aluminium hull, and Aluminium superstructure.

FAZISI is one of 991 sailing yachts in the 24-30m size range.

Specifications

• Name: FAZISI
• Previous Names: FAZISI PEPSI,SECRET SHARER
• Yacht Type: Sail Yacht
• Builder: Poti Sb
• Naval Architect: Mernikov
• Exterior Designer: Design Group Vtk

From Our Partners

Sponsored listings.

Published on March 12th, 2018 | by Editor

The boat that just won’t die

Published on March 12th, 2018 by Editor -->

Fazisi, a boat unlike any the Whitbread race had ever seen, has always faced challenges. In Sailing magazine, designer Vlad Murnikov reflects on the life of the legend and how, even battered by a hurricane and plundered by thieves, you can never count the old girl out.

As it often happens these days, the news came through Facebook. The striking hull of a maxi yacht, massive yet graceful, laying on top of the salvage barge, looking very sad with all the deck gear stripped, hatches torn apart, stanchions and pulpits bent, yet looking hauntingly beautiful even in this distressed state.

For a moment I lost my breath. It was Fazisi, my dear boat bound for the scrapyard. Mine, not in the sense of the ownership, but the boat that I had conceived, designed and led in a famous race around the world.

I knew that Fazisi was caught in Hurricane Irma in September. She was thrown ashore on one of the Florida Keys some 500 yards from deep water, miraculously undamaged with her rig, keel and rudder intact. Her owners were unable to come up with the money for a rescue operation and left her lying there for four months. Local squatters stripped off the deck hardware and anything of value.

Eventually the boat was picked up off the beach by one of the salvage companies contracted to do the post-hurricane clean-up and ended up on that barge sailing into what appeared to be her last sunset.

First there was a dream Fazisi came to life during the dramatic times of the Soviet Union collapse. In the mid-1980s I was an architect, part-time yacht designer and amateur sailor living in Moscow. I had big dreams of sailing the ocean, of racing in the greatest event in the sailing sport, the Whitbread Round the World Race, but I always thought of them as wild, impossible dreams. In the real world I was bound, just like all my fellow Soviet citizens, to live an ordinary and boring strictly regulated life.

But then Gorbachev came to power and things started to change. With little hope of success, I decided to take a leap of faith and launched the Fazisi project, trying to seize on the very first opportunity presented by Perestroika. Initially, when I shared my ambitious Whitbread plans with my sailing friends, most found the idea monumentally stupid, even dangerous. That was the reaction I had anticipated, but, surprisingly, a few of them showed encouragement, if not a commitment yet. Complete story… click here .

Tags: Fazisi , Vlad Murnikov

Related Posts

If you can dream it, you can do it →

SpeedDream: In pursuit of the world’s fastest offshore monohull →

© 2024 Scuttlebutt Sailing News. Inbox Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved. made by VSSL Agency .

• Privacy Statement
• Advertise With Us

Get Your Sailing News Fix!

Your download by email.

• Your Name...
• Your Email... *
• Phone This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

• CLASSIFIEDS
• NEWSLETTERS
• SUBMIT NEWS

Soviet Union’s first, Fazisi was launched 24 years ago

Related Articles

• About the SA Forum
• Join the Forum
• Terms of Use
• Privacy Policy
• View All Listings
• Submit a Photo
• Submit an Article
• Contact the Site Administrator
• Contact the editor

hammer and sickle

I was invited to sail on board Fazisi for the first leg of the race from England to Uruguay and arrived in Southampton on the eve of the start to see the Soviet crew still bolting down bits of deck hardware. A few days earlier they installed a new keel and things were in a bit of a shambles. The following morning we left the dock; Skip Novak and myself the two veterans, along with 14 Soviets with little sailing experience and even less grasp on the english language. The London bookmakers had given us 100:1 odds we wouldn’t make the start line let alone the finish line, but we proved them wrong by crossing the start in second place.

Fazisi was unlike any of the other boats in our class. Where Steinlager, the eventual winner, piled massive amounts of sail area onto a huge, heavy boat, Fazisi was narrow, easily driven with a low freeboard, low wetted surface and minimal sail area. The two boats side by side could not have been any more different, but despite the low budget, inexperienced crew and a barely tested boat Fazisi performed extraordinarily well. We finished 6th in Uruguay beating out 9 other well funded experienced teams.

Fast forward two-plus decades and Vlad is back with an equally revolutionary boat; SpeedDream. This time there is no Soviet flag, but the boat is sure to turn heads and draw a crowd next week when it makes it’s European debut during Cowes Week. “When we arrived all those years ago with Fazisi we were thrilled and excited by the response of the western world to our ‘behind the iron curtain’ project,” said Vlad. “The support was overwhelming and we really made a huge impact with the boat. Yandex-SpeedDream is nowhere near as big as Fazisi, but the boat is so unique, innovative, and sexy looking that I think she will make as big an impact, capturing just as many hearts as Fazisi did.”

Yandex-SpeedDream will be based on the Isle of Wight at Cowes Yacht Haven and will be demo-sailing during Cowes Week. The skipper is world-renowned sailor Cam Lewis who was the only American on board Commodore Explorer when they became the first boat in history to circumnavigate the world in less than 80 days. SpeedDream’s co-skipper in Cowes is none other than “Kuli” Kulinichenko, one of the amateur Soviet sailors on board Fazisi for the Whitbread all those years ago. He has since gone on to be recognized as one of the best and most versatile offshore sailors in the world. His English, by the way, is now very good. To return to the Solent along with Vlad and Kuli and an exciting new design is indeed a thrill. It’s going to be fun to rip it up on the Solent knowing that we may all be a little bit older but that does not stop us from innovating and bringing new ideas to sailing. – Brian Hancock.

You Might Also Like

around the…

3d printed iom

tightening up

where’s my hyundai?

After 19 years in publication, Sailing Anarchy has remained true to its roots as a community oriented, edgy sailing publisher. We have long been, and will continue to be, the leader in providing inside stories, great reports from around the globe, along with the informative, snarky, profane coverage that you have come to expect. Others come and go, dilly dally with bullshit, while we remain Anarchists to the core.

Copyright 2010-2022 Sailing Anarchy, Inc.

• Sports & Outdoors
• Water Sports

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is a service we offer sellers that lets them store their products in Amazon's fulfillment centers, and we directly pack, ship, and provide customer service for these products. Something we hope you'll especially enjoy: FBA items qualify for FREE Shipping and Amazon Prime.

If you're a seller, Fulfillment by Amazon can help you grow your business. Learn more about the program.

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required .

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

Image Unavailable

• To view this video download Flash Player

Follow the author

Race to Freedom : A Tale of an Impossible Around the World Journey Paperback – January 1, 2000

In the height of Michael Gorbachev's perestroika that not only changed Russia but also altered the entire order of the world, FAZISI with her international crew bravely challenging the most treacherous waters on the planet was, in a sense, like a proverbial dove sent into an uncertain future. Like perestroika itself, FAZISI was a bold experiment in survival... RACE TO FREEDOM by Vladislav Murnikov, FAZISI's project manager and designer, tells this incredible story firstnand.

• Print length 336 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Seven Seas Pr
• Publication date January 1, 2000
• Dimensions 6 x 1 x 8.75 inches
• ISBN-10 0967665701
• ISBN-13 978-0967665702
• See all details

Editorial Reviews

About the author, product details.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Seven Seas Pr (January 1, 2000)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0967665701
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0967665702
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.16 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1 x 8.75 inches
• #2,497 in Sailing (Books)
• #420,377 in History (Books)

About the author

Vladislav murnikov.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.

• Sort reviews by Top reviews Most recent Top reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. please try again later..

Top reviews from other countries

• Amazon Newsletter
• About Amazon
• Accessibility
• Sustainability
• Press Center
• Investor Relations
• Amazon Devices
• Amazon Science
• Sell on Amazon
• Sell apps on Amazon
• Supply to Amazon
• Protect & Build Your Brand
• Become an Affiliate
• Become a Delivery Driver
• Start a Package Delivery Business
• Advertise Your Products
• Self-Publish with Us
• Become an Amazon Hub Partner
• › See More Ways to Make Money
• Amazon Visa
• Amazon Store Card
• Amazon Secured Card
• Amazon Business Card
• Shop with Points
• Credit Card Marketplace
• Reload Your Balance
• Amazon Currency Converter
• Your Account
• Your Orders
• Shipping Rates & Policies
• Amazon Prime
• Returns & Replacements
• Manage Your Content and Devices
• Recalls and Product Safety Alerts
• Conditions of Use
• Privacy Notice
• Consumer Health Data Privacy Disclosure
• Your Ads Privacy Choices

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

YACHTING; A Soviet Crew Gains Support

Special to The New York Times

• May 6, 1990

Twenty-two resplendent yachts, ready for racing after a three-and-a-half week layover in balmy Florida, set off for England today in the last leg of the Whitbred Round the World Race.

The decison of the British race organizers to use an American port for the first time in the 17-year history of the race drew thousands of boating enthusiasts and visitors to a drawn-out celebration of the rigorous art of long-distance sailing.

But one vessel, the 82-foot Soviet sloop Fazisi, not the largest or the fastest entry and not among the ones expected to win the race three weeks from now, will be remembered here above all the others.

The low-slung Fazisi, the first maxi-yacht built in the Soviet Union, won hearts because of the tenacity of the novice crew, which endured its skipper's suicide, massive equipment failures and a dearth of sponsors.

Corporate backers of some of the other yachts in the nine-month-long, 33,000-mile race planned to spend between $10 million and $14 million. The Fazisi's construction and race budget, long since spent, was $2.5 million.

Volunteers Abound

To pay the boat's debts, get to the finish line on the south coast of England and transport the 14 remaining crew members back to the Soviet Union, a gaggle of volunteers in Fort Lauderdale and in Palm Beach and went to work.

Shortly after the yacht arrived on April 11 from Uruguay - in 13th place - Moses Litmanowicz, a promoter, and his partner, Gary Sobel, shipped in some of their own money to make 8,000 red-and-white Fazisi T-shirts. Most had the inscription, ''The Russians Are Coming.'' The T-shirts, when signed by the crew at fund-raising parties, fetched $50 or more apiece. Signed posters went for $75.

Sobel became so wrapped up in the Fazisi that he moved his wedding forward a few months and held it this morning on the boat's deck, three hours before the race resumed.

''Meeting these guys has been the greatest experience of my life,'' Sobel said. ''We've exchanged names and addresses. I've been invited to all their homes.''

Nick Navarro, the Sheriff of Broward County, who returned recently from a trip to the Soviet Union, helped gather about $15,000 in donations and loaned the Fazisi crew a van so that the T-shirts and other souvenirs could be carried to fund-raising events.

''These guys have gone through hell,'' said the sportscaster Curt Gowdy at a fund-raising art auction in West Palm Beach. ''Everything about it was a struggle. But they kept going, and the people of Florida really helped them. They opened their arms to them.''

Plans to Return to America

At Thursday's auction, 68 pieces of Soviet art and other items were sold, raising almost $30,000. Another auction is planned for the summer, when the Fazisi is to return to the United States to test interest in a joint Soviet-American entry in the next Whitbred race, in 1993.

In a restaurant on the island of Palm Beach, where charity fund raising is an art all its own, the Palm Beach Illustrated magazine publisher, Frank Lennon, gave a reception last Tuesday for the crew. The guest of honor was the Soviet Ambassador, Yuri Dubinin.

Dubinin said it was his Government's policy of openness that had allowed a private endeavor such as the Fazisi to be launched on the world stage.

''I was struck by the generosity of our people, and in particular the Palm Beach people,'' said Dubinin, who took a ride on the Fazisi the next day. ''This kind of enthusiasm is very important, an expression of a new spirit in our relations between the two countries. A wonderful example of, as you Americans say, your big heart.''

During their stay here, the yachtsmen met Muhammad Ali at a fund raiser and visited Disney World, courtesy of Delta Airlines, which flew them to Orlando.

By week's end, more than $100,000 had been raised from various sources for the Fazisi, which can go through about $2,000 a day in expenses when racing.

Fun aside, the relentless push for money - an alien concept to many Soviets - took its toll on the morale of the crew, since it meant that they were anything but self-sufficient.

''They're used to being told they're absolutely the best in everything,'' said Rae Glasgow, a marketing expert from New Zealand who led the fund-raising effort here. ''Now they're out in the real world and they realize it isn't true.''

Most of the Soviet yachtsmen were philosophical.

''We have no choice but to ask for money,'' said Sergei Stanetsky, the 31-year-old watch captain. ''I'm sure that for the next race we'll organize everything much better.''

Vlad Murnikov  dba mxDesign

Innovation rooted in Tradition

mxDesign provides a variety of yacht design services for our clients, including, but not limited to:

Conceptual and preliminary design

Exterior visualisation, styling and detailed design

Interior design

Space planning and general layout design

We enjoy being part of a team effort, working closely with naval architects, engineers, and boat yards in bringing to life our clients dreams

A collection of our past, curent and future projects, all done with passion and desire to open new grounds in boat design.

For the most part, technological advancement is result of careful and slow evolution. But ever so often a revolutionary idea suddenly emerges, connecting elements of the prior development into one harmonious whole, and uniting advanced engineering solutions with amazingly beautiful appearance of the resulting design.

Yacht designer Vlad Murnikov is a man who thinks in categories of revolution not evolution, who generates highly innovative ideas and wraps them up in the exquisitely elegant forms never seen before.

Almost three decades ago he designed the first and the only entry from the Soviet Union – a racing yacht FAZISI – into the Whitbread Round the World Race. It was an unforgettable event in the history of sailing when an unknown designer presented to the global sailing community one of the most advanced sailboats of the time, a boat capable of competing against the world’s elite. During the race FAZISI demonstrating the second best daily ran – 386 miles in 24 hours – a phenomenal result for that time. 

Later on, while working for the world-renowned boat builder Ted Hood in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, Vlad gained experience in designing entirely different type of vessels – luxury powerboats and cruising super yachts. Elegant classic proportions and sophisticated interiors developed to the very specific owners requirements are the characteristics of the yachts designed by Vlad Murnikov for Ted Hood Boatbuilders.

Vlad’s venture into high performance dinghy design resulted in 25+ knots mxRay (more than 300 were produced) and its sequel mxNext boats, and for the first time brought fun and speed of asymmetric spinnakers into the single-handed dinghy arena.

​                     

Vlad Murnikov’s most recent projects include SpeedDream concept – monohull capable of competing with multihulls in real offshore conditions, a high performance cruising catamaran mxCat-88 Volante, featuring hydrofoils and wing sails for a forward-thinking Australian client and sophisticated and elegant Golden-21 powerboat - an attempt to reinvent the classic runabout

CONTACT US

Vlad Murnikov

dba mxDESIGN

[email protected]

(US)-617-861-7184

Success! Message received.

SAIL MARBLEHEAD INC.

Sail marblehead, inc..

Sailing and Boat Restoration School

Used Boat and Outboard Motor Sales

Marblehead, MA and Rochester, NH

Boat Restoration

We like to take boats that are about to be sent to the scrapyard and teach people how to restore them to better than brand new condition and then pass them along to a new loving home. See our Gallery and Facebook page for more photos and videos.

Sail Marblehead Inc. is a non-profit sailing and boat restoration school founded in 2002 by Captain Jim Ouellette.

Captain Ouellette is a United States Coast Guard licensed master of up to 100 ton vessels. He is an American Sailing Association certified instructor from basic keel boat through bare boat charters. He is a former delivery Captain of Fazisi, an 83 foot boat built for around the world Whitbread Racing (now called the Volvo Ocean Race). 

Captain Ouellette did charters on Fazisi for two summers based in Marblehead and Salem harbors, as well as trips to Bermuda. He often does bare boat charter certifications and offshore cruising instruction while sailing to Bermuda or Tortola, British Virgin Islands.

Sailing School

Private or group sailing lessons are available

Copyright © 2023 SAIL MARBLEHEAD INC. - All Rights Reserved.

Powered by GoDaddy Website Builder

Toronto to Halifax - down the St.Lawrence River

Surfing the atlantic - halifax to ft. lauderdale.

• MarketPlace
• Digital Archives
• Order A Copy

First sail for SpeedDream prototype

The team behind SpeedDream, which is attempting to build the world's fastest monohull sailboat, got some valuable feedback last week in Rockland Harbor in Maine. The team, headed by Russian yacht designer Vlad Murnikov and circumnavigator Brian Hancock, who is the creative and media director, was rewarded with impressive performance of the 27-foot prototype, which was built by Lyman-Morse in Maine. The final design will be much larger, and according to Murnikov, much faster. The vessel is designed to plane across the waves, with a canting keel that will keep its end bulb out of the water and a wave-piercing bow that will go through the waves rather that push them aside. Murnikov was the designer of the Russian ocean race boat Fazisi which particpated in the 1989-90 Whitbread Round the World Race. Fazisi, which also used the wave-piercing approach, seemed to be part ocean racing sailboat, part submarine.

By Ocean Navigator

• My Searches  
• Watch List (0)
• Sign In  

Used Yachts For Sale

Sail monohulls 50ft >, fazisi  .

ABOUT THE SELLER

Buy this Boat with Confidence

Contact the seller.