VOR: One hears that the new CEO will be announced this afternoon, and it will be former Volvo sailor

ALICANTE, ESP – As always Sailing Illustrated tries to keep our Dear Readers ahead of the news curve by revealing upcoming announcements before they become public. Your Ed. is reliably informed that later this afternoon in Alicante the Volvo Ocean Race will announce that Mark Turner's (GBR) successor as CEO has been chosen, and it will be Richard Brisius of Sweden, a two-time VOR veteran racer who was the managing director of the all-female Team SCA in the 2011-12 edition of the VOR. That he is Swedish and a former sailor/manager comes as no surprise, given Volvo Corp's home country and corporate culture.

In April of this year Mr Brisius had been announced as President of the Swedish bid committee for the 2026 Winter Olympics, a job that obviously he will now be leaving. [UPDATE: One now hears that Mr Brisius will also stay in his Olympic job, at least for now. More later.]

There's an interesting and revealing interview with Mr Brisius talking about the value to a sponsor of being involved in the Volvo Ocean Race in an article headlined "Making it Pay" published by Seahorse magazine during the 2011-12 edition here. More later, including on the professional way we hear and see that Mr Turner is handling the transition.

Richard Brisius (SWE) will be announced later today as the new CEO of the Volvo Ocean Race.