NEWPORT – The New York Yacht Club’s 154th Annual Regatta, presented by Rolex, has drawn a fleet of 112 vessels of all vintages to the City by the Sea.

A 19-mile race around Conanicut Island will be the first in a series of races this Saturday and Sunday. These “mini-distance race scenarios will further prepare those crews entering the Newport to Bermuda Race, a 635-nautical-mile ocean-racing classic that also starts off Newport next Friday,” regatta organizers said in a statement today.

Competitors will include the 70-foot PUMA Ocean Racing vessel constructed by Bristol-based Goetz Custom Boats. Its crew – led by Ken Read of Newport (READ MORE) – is gearing up for the nine-month, around-the-world Volvo Ocean Race that begins this October in Alicante, Spain.

Also on hand will be Hartford resident George David’s 90-foot Rambler, which in the past year has broken records in the Nordbank Blue Race (transatlantic), Rolex Middle Sea Race and the Offshore Race Rolex Buenos Aires to Rio de Janeiro. The vessel numbers several Rhode Islanders among its crew despite helmsman Read’s departure.

The Rambler is the second-largest vessel in the regatta, after the 99-foot super-maxi Speedboat that will be skippered by Volvo-winning Mike Sanderson. The 66-foot Numbers, from Judel-Vrolijk, owned by Dan Meyers of Boston and Newport, will be competing as well.

“I’ve been doing the New York Yacht Club events for a couple of decades, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a tougher fleet,” David told the club, noting that his vessel will be racing against half a dozen new IRC designs. Recent structural changes have made Rambler “stiffer and faster,” he added, and should help his 2002 vessel compete with newer models.

“This won’t just be one of the most competitive regattas of the season, but of this century,” Read said. The event also “is going to be hugely important for PUMA,” he added, “because we only have a small window to learn how to boat-handle these monsters around the buoys.” There are inshore buoy races at each of the Volvo stopovers, Read said.

Along with the newer vessels, the Annual Regatta will showcase vintage racing craft in the 12-Meter and Classics divisions. (The event is the first in the New York Yacht Club’s annual Classics Series.) America’s Cup victors Intrepid and Courageous will be among the 12-meter competitors while 1931 Transatlantic winner Dorade, one of Olin Stephens’ earliest designs, will be among the classic entries.

Additional information about the New York Yacht Club and its 154th Annual Regatta, presented by Rolex, is available at www.nyyc.org.