There was a double Bermudian triumph yesterday in the opening two races of the Arch Byte CII World Championships in the Great Sound as both Malcolm Smith and Eleanor Gardner shone amid the high-class fleet.

Smith, a former world Sunfish champion and Bermuda Male Athlete of the Year in 2003, won the second race in the mid-afternoon in winds of up to ten knots while the 15-year-old Gardner fended off the challenges of a host of overseas talents to win the opening race of the prestigious five-day, 33-skipper regatta.

However, Smith had to settle for second place in the overall standings behind Valerie Chia of Singapore, whose consistently high finishes of third and fourth gave her a seven-point lead over the local veteran ? who was set back by his 13th place finish in the first race of the day.

Gardner is lying in eighth overall on 21 points, while 15-year old William Hutchings is the second-best ranked local in fourth.

Another Bermudian sailing stalwart, Stevie Dickinson, is in tenth position while defending women?s champion Hana Blore from the UK is in 12th.

The wind in the Great Sound yesterday remained light and shifty throughout ? and Smith was confident afterwards that his performances would get better with the wind forecast to pick up later in the week.

?I?m not really at my best in light winds so to win a race in these conditions was very pleasing,? he said.

?There are 18 scheduled races overall so there is a long way to go and we?ll know more about how the week is going to pan out after the five races we?ve got tomorrow.

?But I?m happy with the way I?m sailing and hopefully if the wind strengthens throughout the rest of the week I can continue to improve.?

A total of 18 sailors from North and South America, Europe and Asia have entered this year?s World Championships hosted by the Spanish Point Boat Club and which will this year will see the crowning of a new champion with previous winner Jean Baptiste of France not returning to defend his title.

Organisers hope to fit as many as 18 races into the five days, with each sailor allowed to discard their three worst results at the regatta?s conclusion to determine the final standings.