Twice world champion Malcolm Smith is handily placed after the first day's sailing at the Sunfish World Championships in Houston, Texas.

In the day's first race yesterday at Houston Yacht Club, Smith, who was on top of the world in 1994 in Bermuda and 1998 in Long Island, finished fifth.

Results of the delayed second race could not be confirmed last night although a spokesperson at the yacht club said provisionally Smith had placed 15th.

Inbetween races, Smith told The Gazette his first outing could have been so much better if organisers had not shortened the course due to concerns over weather conditions.

"The race started off in about five to eight knot winds and I wasn't doing too bad up the first beat," said Smith (43), who sails out of Spanish Point Boat Club. "I was somewhere in the teens at the first windward mark and I got down the run and may have gained one or two boats.

"At the second beat as we rounded the marker a squall came through and the wind probably got up to 25 to 30 knots. That's when a lot of the positions started to change and I managed to get myself up to fifth place by the time we finished the race."

Smith said while the weather helped him move through the field, organisers felt some of his competitors were not able to handle it.

"They shortened the course for us because they probably felt the conditions had got a little too much for some of the sailors," he said. "I think we were supposed to do a double sausage and we only did a single. We should have gone up, down, up, down and up which was five legs but we only ended up doing three.

"If the race had run for two more legs then I could have probably got myself up to second or third quite easily."

Smith said he had been confident prior to the start of the race.

"I expected to do fairly well," he said. "It is tough sailing in lighter conditions because if you don't get a clean start you find yourself fighting back for most of the race. I was fortunate that the wind did come in a lot because I do do much better in the heavier winds."

There are two races planned per day through Friday with Wednesday being a make-up day.

"It's going to be tough," Smith said. "There are some past world champions here, there's the current world champion and there's a long way to go. I am just going to sail my best and see what I can come up with.