Skipper Jim Richardson (holding tiller) and the crew aboard Barking Mad posted results of second and third in two races on Friday and now hold the overall lead in the regatta. Photo by Sarah Proctor.

John Demourkas drank a beer while sitting in his support boat at the Annapolis Yacht Club docks and just shook his head when asked to describe Day 3 of the Farr 40 East Coast Championship. The California skipper remain baffled by the conditions on the Chesapeake Bay, but felt fortunate that his Groovederci team held onto third place for the third straight day.

"The Chesapeake continues to be a conundrum. Between the breeze, the tide and the current... just the overall fickle nature of the sailing," Demourkas said. "It's tough here. You have to really be alert and on top of your game to do well."

With three days down and one more to go, it is skipper Jim Richardson and the crew aboard Barking Mad that have figured things out the best. Richardson steered Barking Mad to a second and third in Friday's two races and that was good enough to overtake Enfant Terrible for the overall lead.

Skipper Jim Richardson (holding tiller) and the crew aboard Barking Mad posted results of second and third in two races on Friday and now hold the overall lead in the regatta.

Barking Mad has posted two bullets and three other top three results in totaling 21 points, one better than the Italian entry that led the regatta upon conclusion of racing Wednesday and Thursday. Skipper Alberto Rossi and the Enfant Terrible team suffered a seventh in the opening race on Friday, but rebounded to take line honors in the second start.

Skipper Alberto Rossi and the Enfant Terrible team maintained their overall lead at the Farr 40 East Coast Championship, being held on the Chesapeake Bay. Photo by Sarah Proctor.

It was as wild a day on the Chesapeake Bay as you will ever find. There were massive wind shifts and huge changes in pressure. It was tough for competitors in the Farr 40 East Coast Championship to make sense of it all, but the remarkable fact is the top five places remain unchanged from the opening day.

Skipper Alberto Rossi and the Enfant Terrible team rebounded from a sixth in Race 3 by winning Race 4 then tacked on a third in Race 5 to remain atop the standings after two days of action off Annapolis. Rossi credited tactician Vasco Vascotto with making some super calls as the Italian entry posted the lowest score in the eight-boat fleet for the second straight day.

"It was very tricky racing. The best thing for our boat is that, in a crazy situation, Vasco understood what was going on. At the end of the day, he did it better than the rest," Rossi said.

Enfant Terrible has a low score of 14 points - two better than Barking Mad, which held onto second place thanks to getting the gun in Race 5. Skipper Jim Richardson pretended that he was rolling dice when asked about Thursday's sailing.

"It was a total crap shoot out there. The wind was so random and the shifts were so enormous. You factor in the current and the pressure changes and it really was difficult to figure things out," Richardson said. "We sailed well and got really fortunate at times. I'm pleased that we started well in every race and our crew work on the course was solid."

California owner-driver John Demourkas and the Groovederci crew maintained third place in the overall standings with a consistent line of 5-4-2 on Thursday. Cameron Appleton is calling tactics for Demourkas, whose decision to return to using his old North 3DL sails has proven wise.