VOR: Chuny Bermúdez joins Vestas 11th Hour Racing crew; pre-race press conference notes; In-Port rac

LISBON – Vestas 11th Hour Racing has just issued a press release confirming what Sailing Illustrated readers knew yesterday – that Spanish sailor Roberto "Chuny" Bermúdez de Castro Muñoz has joined the Vestas crew for Leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race. The six-time VOR veteran, most recently as winner with Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing in the 2014-15 edition, will serve as the substitute for Phil Harmer who is still recovering from a back injury. Excerpt from the Vestas release:

"Choosing to bring on Chuny was a long-term decision to add more depth to the program and keep our crew fresh," said Mark Towill, Team Director. "There are still 45,000 miles to go, and we know we will need to be a peak performance get through all the next ten legs." "It was great to get the call from Charlie [Enright, USA, Vestas skipper] and Mark. I love this race, and glad I can be part of it again with a group of hard-working men and women," said Chuny.

The Skippers press conference concluded an hour or so ago. Read what they had to say, at least their key comments, in this VOR summary here.

The Lisbon In-Port race begins in 90 minutes, at 1400 WET/UTC / 1000 EDT / 0700 PDT) and will streamed live to the Volvo Ocean Race Facebook page here.

The pre-Leg 2 skippers press conference wrapped an hour ago. Read their key comments here. Photo: VOR media.

Vestas 11th Hour Racing skipper Charlie Enright (USA) at the the morning's presser in Lisbon. Vestas leads the VOR after Leg 1 having won the race from Alicante to Lisbon that finished Saturday. Today Mr Enright and Team Director Mark Towill (USA) announced the addition of VOR veteran Chuny Bermúdez (ESP) to the team, a move that many keen observers, including your Ed., believe will strengthen the team significantly. Sr Bermúdez resigned from the troubled Team AkzoNobel in September. Photo: VOR media.