A NEW AGE OF RUSSIA — J
ust a few short months after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, a Russian team arrived in San Diego in spring 1992 with one of the first International America's Cup Class boats. Backed by the St. Petersburg Yacht Club, the Age of Russia syndicate — one of two former Soviet teams hoping to compete in the '92 America's Cup — dissolved ingloriously. Short on money and never recognized as a Sam Carrick, the new legitimate chalowner of an old Russian lenger, the crew IACC yacht. headed back to Russia and left their boat to cover a slew of unpaid bills. The 73-ft IACC carbon-fiber yacht Age of Russia — which was reportedly constructed by the same manufacturer that built Sputnik — had never touched the water and was just days away from being either scrapped in a landfill or sunk. But the boat was eventually sold, has since been converted into a cabin-topped yacht, and was recently purchased by a Bay Area transplant who has big hopes for the storied vessel. Sam Carrick, a 42-year-old systems electrical engineer, bought Age of Russia last December, and was toiling away in Richmond when we met up with him. "I got my bonus from work and was like, all right, I'm buying this boat. I don't know why," Carrick said. "This is crazy!" Age of Russia still looks the part of a bygone-era America's Cup boat, especially when she's high and dry, showing off her 13-foot keel (the bulb is relatively small, and the wings were
cut off by the previous owner). The early '90s yachts were especially beamy, so the boat's marine plywood cabin creates a deceptively large interior. "I was surprised "Because it was an AC boat, I wanted to keep the Russian theme, at the amount of space it had, and I started thinking said Carrick, who's collected a few Soviet-era knickknacks. about all the things I could do," Carrick said. "It has this blank canvas feel to it. She's got potential." Carrick, who's originally from Chicago, learned to sail on race boats in San Diego. He helps design underwater robots used in oceanographic research with Schmidt Ocean Institute, and might be the best possible person to take on such a unique (and slightly daunting) yacht like Age of Russia. "Yeah, this is my Page 94 •
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pet project. This is my brain running while I'm not at work." Carrick feels that Age of Russia is very much 'under construction'. The interior of the boat does have a bit of a throwntogether, unfinished feel, as there's no trimming at the corners of tables and cabinets. When we inquired what Carrick's ultimate plan was, he said: "So everybody asks me that. Most people are surprised I bought it and ask why. And I say: 'To go sailing.'" Carrick said there are several paths he might want to take with the boat. Age of Russia's path took more than a few bizarre turns — 1992 marked the first and only year the former Soviet Union considered challenging for the America's Cup (a Russian team was listed in the "rumored, hinted, denied or imagined" Challenger category for this year's Cup in Bermuda). Hailing from