ALICANTE, Spain -- The Volvo Ocean Race has announced several changes for the next edition of the round-the-word race, which will start in October 2017.Among them are double points on long trans-oceanic legs and various bonus points, new crew-size rules that encourage teams to have more women sailors, on-board reporters that can rotate among the boats and a new route that includes more Southern Ocean racing. At close to 45,000 nautical miles, it will be the longest edition of the marquee offshore race.The change in the scoring system will encourage strategic risk-taking by the teams, designed to open up the competition in an era of close one design racing. That will give teams an incentive to gamble more often to split the fleet.Double points will be awarded for the two Southern Ocean legs, from Cape Town to Hong Kong, and Auckland to Itajai, Brazil; and the North Atlantic leg from Newport, Rhode Island, to Cardiff, Wales.Additionally, a bonus point will be awarded to the winner of each leg, to the first team to round Cape Horn in a nod to the mythical significance of this turning point in the race, and to the team with the best total elapsed time overall.On the crew front, all-male teams will be limited to seven sailors, one fewer than in 2014-15. Mixed teams will be given a significant numerical advantage. Combinations can include seven men and either one or two women, five men and five women, seven women and one or two men, or 11 women.If female offshore sailors want to compete at the same level as the best in the world then they need to train and race with the best, said Ian Walker, the winning skipper in the 2014-15 race. It would be very hard to compete with only seven people on a Volvo Ocean 65 against teams of eight or nine. This new rule will almost certainly force teams to hire women and that will create a great platform for learning.Team SCAs all-female crew finished third in the In-Port Race series in the last VOR and became the first to win an offshore leg in 25 years. But it still saw a ceiling in its overall offshore performance without being able to learn from the more experienced sailors.In the last race, onboard reporters were assigned to each team. In the next edition, a team of on-board reporters will be created that can move from boat to boat on leg to leg, balancing both integrity and trust.As part of mandatory qualifiers, the fleet will sail in the Rolex Fastnet Race, one of the most revered and feared tests in sailing, from England to the Fastnet Rock off the southwest coast of Ireland and back to England. The Volvo fleet will then race from Plymouth, England, to Lisbon to complete Leg 0. The fleet will then sail a new prologue from Lisbon to Alicante, Spain.In other changes, sailors can post social media updates direct from the oceans for the first time; Wholesale Air Max From China . In the lead up - which seemed to begin the moment Mike Geiger blew the whistle in Houston last Thursday night - the Impact rumour mill went into overdrive. The speculation went into meltdown mode, of the golden nugget variety. Air Max China . That left plenty of energy for pitching books and swatting away free agency questions. Anthony had 24 points and nine rebounds, and the Knicks avenged an embarrassing home loss with a rout of their own, beating the Boston Celtics 114-88 on Wednesday night for their third straight victory. http://www.cheapairmaxstore.com/ . Pierce was ejected in the third quarter of Indianas 103-86 win Monday. George Hill stole a bad pass and was going in for a layup, and Pierce hustled back and appeared to be trying to wrap him up. Cheap Air Max For Sale . He said Tuesday thats a big reason why he is now the new coach of the Tennessee Titans. Whisenhunt said he hit it off quickly with Ruston Webster when interviewing for the job Friday night. Cheap Air Max Shoes . The Swede became the first golfer to win the PGA Tours FedEx Cup and European Tours Race to Dubai in the same season. "It is still taking a little time to sink in what Ive achieved this week as was the case when I won the FedEx Cup but then it just kept getting better and better as the days went on and I am sure this will be the same," he said. LOS ANGELES -- Kris Bryant heard the MVP chants from the contingent of Chicago fans at Dodger Stadium. Inside the clubhouse, his teammates showered him with more of the same.Bryant hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the 10th inning to go with an earlier solo shot, lifting the Cubs over the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-4 on Friday night in the series opener between NL division leaders.Its humbling and just keeps me going and keeps me determined to do all I can, Bryant said. Its pretty cool to hear.Bryants NL-leading 35th homer capped a comeback from an earlier two-run deficit and extended the Cubs winning streak to four games. Bryant heard the crowds chants as he scored behind Dexter Fowler, who singled leading off.Bryant went 2 for 4 and scored three runs to increase his major league-leading total to 107.His swing has gotten shorter, Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. Its more contact oriented, he is not chasing as much. He is able to put the ball in play with two strikes. That for me is the biggest difference over last year.Chicago improved to 19-4 in August while earning its major league-leading 82nd victory.We never give up, Bryant said. We always believe we can win in the final innings.Travis Wood (4-0) got the victory with one inning of relief. Aroldis Chapman tossed a scoreless 10th with two strikeouts for his 10th save in 12 chances since being acquired on July 25 from the Yankees.Adam Liberatore (2-1) took the loss, allowing two runs and four hits in one inning. The Dodgers had their NL West lead cut to one game after San Francisco won.Bryants first homer leading off the eighth pulled the Cubs to 4-3.Chicago tied the game 4-all in the ninth on a wild pitch by closer Kenley Jansen that allowed Jayson Heyward, who led off with a double, to score from third.A misfire with the cutter, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. Kenley is tough for anyone to catch. His ball does a lot of different things.The Dodgers took a 4-2 lead on Adrian Gonzalezs homer leading off the seventh.New Dodgers catcher Carlos Ruiz went 1 for 3 with a walk and was hit by a pitch in his first at-bat after being acquired Thursday from the Phillies for catcher A.J. Ellis, a popular and well-regarded player in the clubhouse. Ruiz failed to catchh Jansens wild pitch that led to the tying run.ddddddddddddHis ball was moving real good and it surprised me, Ruiz said. I have no excuse.The Dodgers led 3-1 in the fourth when a run scored when Howie Kendrick grounded into a double play. They got runs in the third on Justin Turners RBI groundout and another by Chase Utley in the second.The Cubs closed to 3-2 in the fifth on Anthony Rizzos RBI single with two outs.Utley made a diving stop on Ben Zobrist in the fifth, when he threw on his back to Gonzalez for an inning-ending out that stranded two runners.Dodgers starter Bud Norris allowed two runs and three hits in five innings, struck out six and walked four.Cubs starter Mike Montgomery gave up three runs and six hits in five innings, struck out five and walked four.JANSEN MOVES UPDespite blowing his sixth save of the season, Jansen struck out two to surpass Jim Brewer for most strikeouts by a reliever in Dodgers franchise history with 606.MAKING MOVESThe Dodgers recalled pitcher Brock Stewart from Triple-A Oklahoma City to start Sundays series finale. The 24-year-old right-hander has appeared in three games (two starts) with the team this season, going 0-2 with an 11.25 ERA. He is a combined 9-3 with a 1.68 ERA in 20 minor league starts with three different teams, including Oklahoma City. To make room on the roster, the Dodgers optioned C Shawn Zarraga to OKC and RHP Kenta Maeda to the Rookie-level Arizona League Dodgers, whose season ends Sunday.TRAINERS ROOMDodgers: LHP Clayton Kershaw threw a 60-pitch bullpen session Friday. Hes been on the DL for nearly two months with a herniated disk in his back. Next he will face hitters. ... LHP Brett Anderson, on the DL with a finger blister, threw a bullpen session and expects to face hitters next week.UP NEXTCubs: RHP Jason Hammel (13-6, 3.07 ERA) starts the middle game of the series. He is winless in eight games (five starts) at Dodger Stadium. In his last outing, he allowed a season-high-tying 10 runs (six earned) in 3 1/3 innings of an 11-4 loss at Colorado.Dodgers: LHP Julio Urias (4-2, 3.95) has won his last three decisions. ' ' '