It's early days, as he was quick to point out, but after the first two races at the Pan-Am Games, Bermuda's Malcolm Smith is the man to catch.

Smith, a two-time world champion in the Sunfish class, scored a second and a third at Boca Chica on the Dominican Republic coast yesterday.

What's more, his fiercest rival, Eduardo Cordero of Venezuela, having won the first race, trailed in fifth in the second.

That means Smith, the silver medallist in Winnipeg four years ago, leads the standings by a single point with ten races still to go.

"My boat speed was really good off the line," he said. "I had two good starts. My coach was really happy with the speed because sometimes he says I go fast and then lose focus and lose concentration for that little tiny bit. That's when you can find yourself back in the mix of things again."

In Race One, Smith led at the first windward mark.

"I'm still having minor, minor problems upwind with some of my boat speed. Eduardo is extremely fast upwind, he's always been fast. He's probably about 15 pounds lighter than me and that's what's helping him," he said.

Smith was also passed by a Dominican sailor but overhauled him after he got into some foul trouble.

"He fell back to fifth and I ended up second with the American sailor third," he said.

After an hour's rest Smith was back in action.

"I got another good start in Race Two," he said. "I picked the left side of the course and came out well ahead of the fleet. I lost a bit of ground at the end of the beat to the Canadian and the kid from Peru.

"They both got me on the run but I caught them back up and rounded the leeward mark in first.

"Then going back up the beat the wind crapped out a little bit and those two are a lot lighter than me and managed to slip through.

"We had a good race downwind, but the Peruvian managed to get away."

Despite his fine performance, Smith still feels he has plenty in the tank.

"We started in about eight to ten knots of wind," he said. "If we could get a little more wind and it would stay . . . The problem is that it comes and goes. Basically, I am just hoping for a little more wind and maybe I could win a couple of races."

Though atop the standings, Smith wants those rooting for him to remain realistic . . . for the time being.

"We will look at the halfway mark," he said. "Twelve races is a lot of races and anything can happen. I'm just going to go out there and do what I do best."

Smith's training partner at Spanish Point Boat Club in Bermuda, Martin Vezina, who is representing Canada at the Pan-Ams, had a mixed opening day in the same class.

He began with a ninth and ended with a second and stands fifth overall.

"In the first race I couldn't get the boat going and ended up ninth," he said. "I was OK up the first mark but I think I went on the wrong side on the downward leg and ended up pretty deep and had to play catch up."

The second race was a totally different story and with discards to come into play, it leaves Vezina still in the hunt.

"I had a good start and was top three for the whole race. I was leading it at the last mark and then the guy from Peru came back downwind," he said.

The way he finished the day cheered Vezina somewhat.

"I felt worse after the first race but after a second place I know I can do better than a ninth," he said. "I just want to do the best I can and stay in the top five. If I stay in the top five I have a chance of a medal but the competition is very tough."

Meanwhile, Zander Kirkland, sailing in the Laser Class, had a day he probably wants to forget. The 20-year-old Islander had a 13th place finish and an 11th and currently lies 12th overall.

"It's disappointing but it's only the first day and conditions were pretty tricky," he said. "In the first race I was going slow upwind and just sucked. In the second race, we played with the sail a little bit and I had a better start."

Kirkland was up with the head of the fleet but could not maintain his boat speed.

"I wasn't going quite fast enough and the wind just isn't very forgiving," he said. "But there's still five more days to go and I would like to see myself climb every day."

Racing continues today.