Their entire sailing and shore team of close to 30 crew members sailed here with four containers of equipment and supplies.

But the one thing they lacked was funding. The inability to bring sponsors on board led team principal Oleg Zherebtsov to announce on Tuesday that Team Russia had suspended racing.

A disappointed shore team manager Tim Dean said yesterday: 'We worked on the premise that we would get the money and then sail off to Qingdao.'

But it was not to be.

So only seven boats will depart Singapore on Jan 18 for the fourth leg of the round-the-world race.

The Kosatka - Russian for 'killer whale' - will return to Europe early in the new year.

But Team Russia chief executive Michael Woods is hopeful they will receive enough backing to rejoin the race from Rio de Janeiro (leg six) or Boston (leg seven).

The 10-leg race is set to finish next June in Team Russia's home port of St Petersburg.

'A lot of people are trying to make it happen,' he says. 'It would be hugely disappointing not to be in the final leg.'

Woods reveals that organisers of the Volvo Ocean Race had offered help by providing contacts of potential sponsors but nothing has come through yet.

Up till this stage of the race, Zherebtsov had financed the team, believed to be in the region of £10m (S$21.4m).

The 40-year-old founder of the Russian hypermarket chain Lenta, who is also a bowman and pit man in Team Russia, has been hit hard by the stock-market crash and bank-lending restrictions, reported The Independent.

Woods estimates that it costs about ¥500,000 (S$1 million) to run the team each month.

While the decision to suspend racing did not surprise the crew, the news has put a dampener on their festive season.

Says Woods: 'We've been very open with the whole team for the last few months. They knew we needed extra sponsorship to continue the race.

'They are very sad this adventure is coming to an end. It's more than a normal job for them. When they are away sailing, they become a family.'

Team Russia finished seventh in leg three from Kochi to Singapore.

They are lying seventh overall with 10.5 points. Ericsson 4 are the overall leaders with 35 points.

Arthur Tay, chairman of host venue One Degree 15 Marina Club and promoter and organiser of the stopover One15 Singapore Ocean Race, believes that Team Russia's absence will not spoil the party.

He says: 'It's part and parcel of the race. It's unfortunate that this has happened but the show will go on.'

'A lot of people are trying to make it happen. It would be hugely disappointing not to be in the final leg.'

MICHAEL WOODS, Team Russia's chief executive, is hopeful they will receive enough backing to rejoin the race from Rio de Janeiro or Boston