Sailing-China look to boost sailing with Volvo entry

WUHAN, China, Oct 30 (Reuters) - A Chinese team announced its entry for the 2014-15 Volvo Ocean Race on Wednesday, pledging to boost the sport of offshore sailing in the country. The sport got a boost in China when Xu Lijia won gold at the London Olympics in the women's laser radial class, only their second Games sailing title. While Team Dongfeng will be China's third official entry in the 40-year history of the race, previous crews in 2008-09 and 2011-12 included just one Chinese sailor on each occasion. Team organisers say this time they want a much stronger line-up to be recruited from China for the nine-strong crew and are launching a nationwide campaign to find the best candidates. "We want to leave a real legacy that will both motivate the Chinese to embrace the sport of sailing and be able to develop the talent so that, ultimately, a future campaign could be 100 percent Chinese," team director Bruno Dubois told Reuters on Wednesday. The next race starts in Alicante, Spain, on Oct. 4 next year. (Editing by Peter Rutherford)