Flojito y Cooperando, the Mexican entry co-owned by Bernardo Minkow and Julian Fernandez, avoids the the stern of Charisma (Nico Poons, Monaco) during a mark rounding. Photo by Sarah Proctor

Newport, RI- Skippers and crews fought through cold and rainy conditions to complete three races on the opening day of Farr 40 competition at the 159th New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta presented by Rolex.

Barking Mad owner-driver Jim Richardson was chilled to the bone and could not wait to find a warm spot indoors after berthing his boat at the Newport Shipyard. However, Richardson was a happy man after Barking Mad won the day.

"It was a cold, wet day and we had somewhat dynamic conditions out there. There were some pretty big shifts and the current was running fairly strong as well," Richardson said. "All in all, it was a pretty good start for our team. Our philosophy was to start in low-risk places and rely on our crew work and boat speed out on the course. I thought we did a good job of finding ways to come back a couple times today."

Terry Hutchinson called tactics aboard Barking Mad, which picked off two boats on the final downwind leg to finish fourth in the first race. In the second race, Hutchinson sent Richardson left on the first beat and that paid off handsomely as Barking Mad rounded the top mark in first, performed a strong jibe set then held off Nightshift to get the gun. Barking Mad picked off a boat on the second upwind leg in Race three and wound up placing third.