VOR to finish in Russia - Singapore or Malaysia stopover?

The historic Russian port city of St Petersburg has been officially announced as the race finish for the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09. This will be the first time in the race’s 34-year history that the fleet will visit a Russian port and follows the confirmation in late May that Russia will have its own entry in the race backed by St Petersburg businessman Oleg Zherebtsov. The selection of St Petersburg marks another milestone in the 2008-09 iteration of the race after the decision to take the event through the Middle East, Southeast Asia, India and China. The race route is nearing completion with the offshore start set for Alicante, Spain, on 11 October, 2008. So we know the start and finish plus most the ports in between and my bet is on Singapore to come up with the dosh to host the event in front of the Malaysians. Another question is whether these big sailing boats will be allowed to race down the Malacca Straits all the way to Singapore through one of the busiest shipping separation zones in the world.