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VICTORIA — Victoria is the place to be today for yacht-racing fans.

The famous and popular Swiftsure 2012 International Yacht Race — which includes six individual races — with almost 200 boats and thousands of sailors, many of whom race to Neah Bay or Clallam Bay and back, starts Saturday morning.

Three races go to Neah Bay and back, and one travels to Clallam Bay and back.

The festivities, though, started Thursday and continue today in and around Victoria’s inner harbor.

The 185 boats carrying thousands of sailors and support crew descended on Victoria starting Thursday, and continue arriving today.

Entertain the kids

The public beer garden will be open at Ship Point from 2 p.m. to 11 p.m. today and Funner Inflatables will be set up for children.

HMCS Oriole, a sail-training vessel of the Royal Canadian Navy, will be open for guided tours, as well as the 70-foot racing yacht Westerly.

As the boats blast off at 10 a.m. on Saturday, racing fans can watch them jockeying for position across the start line from Clover Point.

Radio stations 100.3 The Q and The Zone @ 91-3 will be broadcasting live from the Race Committee Boat, HMCS Edmonton.

For those at Clover Point, a pancake breakfast will be available courtesy of Central Saanich Lions Club.

Winning boats from most major races in the Pacific Northwest will be lining up in the hopes of adding a prestigious Swiftsure trophy to their collection.

Boats to watch include My-Tai and Braveheart, which took trophies from the Round Salt Spring race last weekend.

Braveheart, a TP52, holds the record of 15 hours and eight minutes for the fastest monohull in the Swiftsure Lightship Classic Race, set in 2007.

The top three boats from the Oregon Offshore Race (Astoria to Victoria) Kotuku, Time Bandit and Riva, should also be in the running.

Other top contenders include Westerly, which recently won the Lipton Cup and Mad Max, and triumphed in the Southern Straits last month.

This year, the Swiftsure Inshore Classic will finish in Cadboro Bay, with celebrations at the Royal Victoria Yacht Club, which sponsors Swiftsure.

There is a large multihull division in the fleet, which always put on a great show.

However, one of the fiercest rivalries will be the Commodores versus the First Ladies’ on identical J80s.

Commodores from Seattle, Victoria and Vancouver yacht clubs will race aboard Swish, and their wives aboard Joyride.

Fans can follow their favorite boats live in real time on Swiftsure Race Tracker.

Visit www.swiftsure.org, Facebook and Twitter for all the latest news.

Six races

The Swiftsure races include Swiftsure lightship classic, Cape Flattery unlimited, Cape Flattery — multihulls, Cape Flattery race, Juan de Fuca race and Two-day inshore regatta.

Following are the course descriptions:

■ Swiftsure Lightship Classic — from the starting line to the Swiftsure Bank mark, rounding to port, back to the finishing line. Distance is 138.7 nautical miles.

■ Cape Flattery Unlimited Race, Cape Flattery Race for Multihulls and Cape Flattery Race — from the starting line to the Cape Flattery mark in Neah Bay, rounding to port, back to the finishing line. Distance is 103.4 nautical miles.

■ Juan de Fuca Race — from the starting line to the Juan de Fuca mark in Clallam Bay, rounding to port, back to the finishing line. Distance is 79.7 nautical miles.