Farr 30 World Championship day 2 - Tight at the top

5:27 PM Sat 10 Sep 2011 GMT

'Day 2 - Farr 30 World Championship' Meredith Block/Farr 30 Worlds - copyright

Farr 30 World Championship runs through to Sunday as part of the Rolex Big Boat Series. Demourkas pulls into third place after a near perfect second day of racing.

The San Francisco-based Farr 30 newcomers aboard Eight Ball maintained a tenuous one-point grip on first place over Jim Richardson's Barking Mad today while Class President Deneen Demourkas (Groovederci 706) sailed to near-perfect 2-1-1 finishes, catapulting her all the way to third place after a disappointing start to her regatta. 'It feels pretty good to sail our own race from out front for three straight, especially after our issues on Thursday' Demourkas said at last night's Farr 30 Class appreciation dinner at the St. Francis Yacht Club. Demourkas was just seconds from a perfect all-bullet day but for a brilliant race one move from local standout sailor Chris Raab and crew aboard Wild Thing who snuck in just ahead of Groovederci for the race four victory. 'They kind of came out of nowhere, and I've never been so angry to get a second-place before.but that's racing!' said Demourkas.

Jim Richardson has won World Championship glory in other high-profile classes, though the Farr 30 World Championship has remained just out of reach despite a decade of trying. 'We had back-to-back second-place finishes in Newport and Sardinia a few years back, and lots of top-five finishes, but we sure would like to take this title,' Richardson said. Richardson misses his star tactician Terry Hutchinson, currently skippering the Artemis Racing America's Cup challenger in Plymouth, England, though he says replacement British expat Andy Green has 'been a joy to have on the team, both on and off the water.'

Just four points separate the top three boats, with another big wind forecast on Saturday that will separate the top guns from those just struggling to hold on.