Danish team brings Volvo Ocean Race fleet to 7

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas has entered a team in the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15, bringing the fleet to maximum of seven boats.

The team will be skippered by Australian Chris Nicholson, who has consecutive runner-up finishes in the race, with PUMA Ocean Racing in 2009 and CAMPER in 2012.

The race begins in October in Alicante, Spain, and will cover 40,000 nautical miles in nine months. It will stop in Newport, Rhode Island, in May 2015 and finish in Gothenburg, Sweden, in June.

For the first-time, teams will compete in one-design boats designed to lower costs and increase competition.

Says race CEO Knut Frostad: ''No more concerns for teams about slow boats or technological advantages. It's going to be a heck of a race over 40,000 nautical miles.''