The Volvo Ocean Race 2005-2006 Begins

The Volvo Ocean Race (formerly the Whitbread Round the World Race)begins in Galicia, Spain with British skipper Neal McDonald and his Ericsson crew winning the shortened first in-port race in the 2005-6 Volvo Ocean round-the-world race.

The premier round-the-world race for crewed monohulls features seven boats racing eastabout over nine legs.

The legs cover 10,000 miles of 40-knots-plus winds, 30-ft. waves and temperatures that rarely venture above 40°--enough to earn the Volvo Ocean Race the nickname "the Mount Everest of Sailing." The teams will race the fastest open-ocean single-hull class of sailboats ever built: the brand-new Volvo Open 70 (VO70). The new VO70s have sophisticated technologies such as canting keels, trim ballast tanks and greatly reduced weight.

[PM]