NEWPORT –– Among the 200 boats on the starting line for the Newport Bermuda Race yesterday, three of them –– The Monster, Rambler and Speedboat –– could finish tomorrow, close to record time, even though forecasters are calling for light air.

The brand-new 100-footer, Speedboat, is the favorite to win line honors in Bermuda, says Ken Read, skipper of il Mostro, The Monster, a Volvo 70 built for Puma Ocean Racing to compete in the Volvo Ocean Race.

“Speedboat is a Volvo 70 on steroids,” said Read. The new maxi was designed by Juan Kouyoumdjian. It is owned by Alex Jackson and skippered by Mike Sanderson. Its professional crew is loaded with Teamorigin’s America’s Cup team with navigator Stan Honey.

Speedboat and The Monster will attempt to break the unofficial open-class record set by Hasso Plattner’s MaxZ 86 Morning Glory in 2004. Plattner finished in 48 hours, 28 minutes and 31 seconds.

George David’s Reichel Pugh 90-foot Rambler will be going after the traditional record of 53 hours, 39 minutes, 22 seconds set by Roy Disney in 2002 on Pyewacket.

Even though weather forecasters are calling for light air, the maxi boats in the race are so advanced that they are expected to cross the finish line tomorrow night, Read said.

“It looks like a lot of southerly and southwesterly [wind],” Read said. “It looks like for two-thirds of the race, we’ll be on starboard tack. When we leave Newport, we’ll all be close-hauled…and as we go down the track, it becomes broader and broader for the big boats, but we’re going to have very different weather than the little boats.”

The maxi boats passed smaller vessels early on. “It looks like the little boats could get beat up,” Read said. “There’s a weather system coming in from the northeast and it looks like it’s going to whack the little boats…but the big boats are going to escape that and scoot into Bermuda ahead of the nasty stuff.”

Final entries yesterday dwindled from 218 to 198 boats. “One boat sank on delivery,” said race spokesman Talbot Wilson. “Another was T-boned on its mooring, one had an electrical fire and other crews have dropped out for business or personal reasons. Yet this is still the second-largest fleet in the 102-year history of the race. The special, centennial race in 2006 had 263 starters and the previous record was 182. Organizers from the Cruising Club of America and the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club are positive about the final turnout.”

To follow the progress of the fleet through the iBoattrack official Web site, go to www.iboattrack.com

tmeade@projo.com