Experienced Telefonica Blue bowman Pepe Ribes will miss the Qingdao in-port race on Saturday because of an injury.
The 37-year-old, who is taking his third shot at this event, broke the thumb on his left hand this morning and will also miss the next leg. He is temporarily replaced by Telefonica Black’s Javier de La Plaza, while Michael Pammenter, another member of Blue’s sister ship, replaces the injured Daryl Wislang.
The team has not yet announced who will sail leg five in Ribes’ place.
Bouwe Bekking, Blue’s offshore skipper and inshore tactician, has been passed fit to race around the cans despite collecting a back injury on leg four. And PUMA’s Ken Read will continue to skipper il mostro with a mangled finger.
Read has called Jerry Kirby into his team – the 53-year-old American sailed the Alicante and Singapore in-port races as well as leg one – and his countryman Joe Fanelli makes his competitive debut for the team as a grinder.
Ericsson 4 have added some grinding fire power in the form of South Africa’s Jan Dekker, a veteran of four round-the-world races, and Rodney Daniel of Australia. The duo replace Brian MacInnes and Joe Spooner, the team’s regular in-port specialists who have conflicting prior engagements.
Green Dragon, meanwhile, have drafted in British America’s Cup sailor Ian Weighell, Ireland’s Damian Foxall and Johnny Mordaunt, the team’s technical manager who, like Weighell, is racing with the team for the first time. Foxall sailed the first three legs and replaces Ian Budgen.