Clearing skies and more wind yesterday brought smiles to the faces of 93 teams sailing in the one-design portion of the New York Yacht Club Race Week presented by Rolex. In a nice contrast to the previous day’s thick fog and light wind, Saturday’s consistent 12-15-knot wind filled in early enough to run three races on two circles and four on a third. So far, a total of six races have been held for all 10 of the one-design classes sailing here – Mumm 30, J/35, J/120, J/105, J/80 and Melges, Farr 40, J/44, 1D35 and Farr 395.

Topping the Farr 40 class is Newporter Jim Richardson on Barking Mad. “We sailed consistently well, nothing too flashy,” said Richardson, who recently won the Cal Cup’s Farr 40 division. “Although we haven’t won any races so far, we’re doing pretty good.” Barking Mad posted a score of 3-2-3-2-2-3 for a total of 15 points. The Farr 40 class is known for its competitive racing, and Barking Mad comes stocked with expert sailors, including America’s Cup veterans Dave Scott of Annapolis, and New Zealander Skip Baxter. Stu Bannatyne, who was a crewmember aboard the Volvo Ocean Race boat illbruck, is calling tactics for Barking Mad and noted that this was his first time sailing on Narragansett Bay. “Anytime you can beat an Olympic gold medallist is pretty good,” said Richardson, referring to three-time Olympic medallist and Rolex Yachtsman of the Year Mark Reynolds, who is calling tactics on Le Renard. Owned by Steve Phillips of Annapolis, Md., Le Renard is in second place with 23.50 points.

Foreign Affair, owned by Australian Richard Perini, is leading the Mumm 30 class and is one of the boats in contention for the North American championship trophy being awarded at the completion of Race Week. Perini has a score of 1-9-1-4-2-1 for a total of 17.25 points. Perini will have to fend off close competition from the current second-placed boat Team Intermec, owned by Dan Cheresh of Holland, Mich., which is one half point behind with 17.75 points, and Steadfast owned by Canadian Fred Sherratt, with 19.75 points.

“Any one of us can win this thing very easily,” said Cheresh. “This is what you hope will happen, with all the boats so close in points that the title comes down to the last race. It’ll be fun tomorrow.” With one race to decide the winner, a good start is crucial, especially in this highly competitive class. Cheresh’s strategy is to sail his own race, but he admits that he’ll keep an eye on both Foreign Affair and Steadfast. “Being a half point down doesn’t mean a thing,” he said. “Winning our next race will happen by making good decisions and sailing steady.”

For Frank Meadows of Rocky Mount, was finer than being in Carolina when he discovered that his 1D35 Roxanne had mathematically won his class’ series with a race to spare. “Wow, this feels good,” said Meadows upon hearing the news. “Not to sound like a cliché, but our three wins today can be attributed to great boat handling and crew work, with a bit of luck thrown in. I didn’t really look around too much on the racecourse because I had Max Skelley calling tactics.” Roxanne ended today with a scoreline of 1-2-1-1-1 for 5 points, with Sotet Lo, owned by Philip Kubat of Newburyport, in second with 13.75 points.

One race is scheduled for today, the final day of racing, for a total of seven races per class. At the conclusion of racing, the awards ceremony will be held at Harbour Court, the New York Yacht Club’s summer clubhouse. The best overall performing yacht will be awarded a Rolex timepiece.

The one-design portion of Race Week at Newport is serving as the Mumm 30 and J/44 North Americans, 1D 35 East Coast Regional Championship and the J/35 New England Championship. In a unique split format, Race Week accommodated nine classes of handicap-rated boats for four days of racing on the front end before switching into one-design mode.

Results (after two days)

J/105 (27 boats, six races)

1. Hoss, Glen Darden, Fort Worth, Texas, 9-2-7-27-8, 35 points

2. Tastes Like Chicken, Steve Tedeschi, Newport, R.I., 3-10-6-9-8-3, 39

3. Indefatigable, Philip Lotz, New Canaan, Conn., 4-15-3-8-6-4, 40

Melges 24 (9 boats, six races)

1. Kilroy, Jeff Jones, Shelby Township, Mich., 3-5-4-2-1-2, 16.75

2.(t) Hummer, Daniel Cameron, W. Sayville, N.Y., 4-1-1-3-4-5, 17.50

2.(t) M-Fatic, Neil Sullivan, Annapolis, Md., 2-7-2-4-2-1, 17.75

2.(t) Pumbaa, Wayne Pignolet, Annapolis, Md., 6-2-3-1-3-3, 17.75

J/80 (7 boats, six races)

1 Bada Bing, Geffrey Pierini, Metuchen, N.J., 2-1-DNF-1-1-2, 14.25

2. Over Achiever, Jason Balich, Beverly, Mass., 1-2-DNF-4-2-1, 17.75

3. Bangarang, Kirk Stirland, Norwalk, Conn., 6-5-3-3-3-3, 23

Farr 40 (11 boats, six races)

1. Barking Mad, James Richardson, Newport, R.I., 3-2-3-2-2-3, 15

2. Le Renard, Stephen Phillips, Annapolis, Md., 4-9-4-1-1-4, 23.50

3. Kokomo, Lang Walker, AUS, 2-3-1-10-7-7, 29.75

J/44 (8 boats, six races)

1. (t) Stampede, James Sundstrom, Rye, N.Y., 4-3-5-1-1-2, 15.50

1. (t) Gold Digger, James Bishop, New York, N.Y., 1-4-1-2-5-3, 15.50

2. Maxine, Greenwich, Conn., William Ketcham, 3-1-2-3-2-5, 15.75

1D35 (6 boats, six races)

1. Roxanne, Frank Meadows, Rocky Mount, N.C., 1-2-1-1-1-1, 5.75

2. Sotet Lo, Philip Kubat, Newburyport, Mass., 2-1-3-2-2-4, 13.75

3. Jazz, John Fisher, Peabody, Mass., 4-4-2-3-4-2, 19

Farr 395 (4 boats, six races)

1. Avalanche, Craig Albrecht, Glen Head, N.Y., 1-1-1-1-1-2, 5.75

2. Wired, Steven Garland, Hingham, Mass., 3-2-2-2-3-3, 15

3. Quintessance, Roger Widman, Larchmont, N.Y., 2-3-DNF-3-2-1, 15.75

Mumm 30 (10 boats, six races)

1. Foreign Affair, Richard Perini, AUS, 1-9-1-4-2-1, 17.25

2.Team Intermec, Dan Cheresh, Holland, Mich., 2-5-5-1-3-2, 17.75

3. Steadfast, Fred Sherratt, CAN, 7-3-3-2-1-4, 19.75

J/120 (5 boats, six races)

1. Bella Notte, Charlie Shumway, Newport, R.I., 1-3-1-1-1-1, 6.75

2. T-Squared, Charles Townsend, New York, N.Y., 2-5-2-2-2-3, 16

3. Dragon, Hugh Balloch, Greenwich, Conn., 4-1-3-4-4-5, 20.75

J/35 (6 boats, six races)

1. Split Decision, David Nickerson, S. Glastonbury, Conn., 1-1-1-5-1-1, 8.75

2. Baboon, Bos Powell, Mystic, Conn., 2-3-4-4-2-3, 18

3. Fast Attack, Jeffrey Smith, Annapolis, Md., 3-2-6-3-3-2, 19