More than 160 yachts will be on the start line this June for the Newport to Bermuda Race.

And more entries are expected before the April 1 deadline marking a big increase on the 123 boats who competed in the last race in 2008.

Among the yachts in this year's Thrash to the Onion Patch will be Sinn Fein, the two-time St. David's Lighthouse Trophy winner which is going after Finisterre's record of three straight wins.

Also the first two boats on elapsed time in 2008, Speedboat and Puma, will be resuming their duel when the race starts off Newport, Rhode Island on June 18.

Two days before the start, the Cruising Club of America will host a Safety at Sea Seminar in Newport.

The seminar is being held for those sailors who still need to fulfill the Safety At Sea requirement. The 2010 Notice Of Race requires that 30 percent of each crew must have attended one of these seminars within five years of the start.