All three Russian teams on the water during a practice race before the RC44 Championship Tour

Russian teams have managed to get their boats ready for the training day before the first round of the RC44 Championship Tour which starts today in Sotogrande, Spain.

Martinez Studio photos from the training day show RUS10 Team Nika by Vladimir Prosikhin, RUS18 Bronenosec Sailing Team by Vladimir Lyubomirov and RUS21 Katusha by Alexander Novoselov.

The participants' racing sailing ships were affected by the storm that struck the Andalusian coast. The protective structures of Sotogrande Port could not hold back the giant waves. Together with the strongest gusts of wind, the elements damaged the fleet boats prepared for arming.

Earlier it was reported that one of the Russian teams could drop out of the competition due to extensive boat damage.

Slovenian Team CEEREF of Igor Lah is considered the favourite of the RC44 Championship Tour. «The Team Ceeref is dotted around the cockpit with a pair of» gold rudders and won the RC44 world championship last year. The team competes in the same line-up as in 2016. As their main rivals, Igor Lah calls Peninsula Petroleum, last year's runner-up in the World Championship. The Peninsula Petroleum squad also remains unchanged.

As for the other teams, they have undergone personnel changes. Especially it concerns «Battleship» Vladimir Lubomirov: only three crew members from the previous season's line-up are left in the team. New Zealander Cameron Dunn, formerly the team's acting coach, has become a tactician. Vladimir Liubomirov now shares steering duties with Kirill Frolov, an experienced SB20 racer.