The 2005–06 Volvo Ocean Race was held between 5 November 2005 and 17 June 2006. Seven boats took part in the race and made ten stops in nine countries.
The 2005–06 race was the first to not begin in the United Kingdom. The course of 31,000 nautical miles (57,000 km) was divided into 9 legs, and would take over 8 months to complete. A new class of boat, the Volvo Open 70 was introduced: The new boats were 2m longer and about 1,000 kg lighter than the VO60's used in the previous race. They were also allowed to have more sail area and include the use of canting keels
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