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New Volvo Ocean Race CEO appointed; not just one, but two

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It took the organizers of the Volvo Ocean Race a month and a half to find a replacement for Mark Turner, who suddenly stepped down as CEO of the famous circumnavigation.

But now the regatta has two heads at once. Richard Brisius has been appointed president of the Volvo Ocean Race, while Johan Salén has been named co-president.

Brisius and Salén are the founders of Atlant Ocean Racing. Over the past 28 years, they have participated in seven Volvo Ocean Races, first in the first race in 1989/90. - first as sailors, then as team managers. Two of the teams they have managed have been Volvo Ocean Race champions: EF Language in the 1997/98 regatta and Ericsson 4 in 2008/09. Two others finished second: Assa Abloy in 2001/02 and Intrum Justitia in 1994/95.

Most recently, Brizius and Salen were managers of Team SCA, the first all-female crew in VOR history.

Brizius is currently CEO of the company set up by the National Olympic Committee and promoting Sweden's bid to host the Winter Olympics in 2026. He will combine this job with the presidency of VOR. Co-president Johan Salen, on the other hand, will take over the operational management of the circumnavigation. He will also play a leading role in developing a strategy for the future of the circumnavigation together with the existing organising team.

«Looking ahead, it is clear that we need to work more closely with Volvo, other investors, future teams and yachtsmen and commercial partners to lay out an even more ambitious plan for the future," said Salon. - I know this process is already underway within the existing organizing team. We are all aware of the importance of having a clear roadmap for the future in terms of competition timeframe, boat type and commercial offer».
«We are convinced that Richard and Johan's experience on the team side is vital to the success of the race for the teams and partners»," said Henry Sténson, Chairman of the Volvo Ocean Race Board.
Mark Turner, the previous chairman of VOR, only served four months in the position.

In that short time he has managed to revolutionise the circumnavigation by promising to make the regatta an annual event and to run it as early as 2019 with new boats of two types - winged monohulls and catamarans.

The ambitious plan, however, turned out to be far from reality. A month before the start of the 2017/18 Volvo Ocean Race, Turner left his post and the round-the-world management said that the race on new boats will not take place in 2019-20.

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