for the forthcoming International Race Weekend and the Summer Pan Am Games by turning in solid performances in Florida over the past eight days.

The World and North American Sunfish Champion, who remains undecided about the class in which he will be sailing on Race Weekend, finished first at the International Masters Championships in Tampa.

He brushed aside challenges from a spirited field of 61 boats in Davis Island Sound during a tournament that saw the sunfish sailors struggle in light winds of 3-5 knots.

Smith finished with eight points, beating Rod Koch of St. Petersburgh on 26 points and Ash Beatty of Texas on 32. Smith had finishes of 2, 3, 1, 1, 3, 1 in his six events.

He then followed this up with a good team performance in the Mid Winter Championships in Sarasota, Florida.

Smith joined up with three other sailors to form a team at the 11th hour and the team finished fourth out of a fleet of 36 in the team series.

Then in the Mid Winter Fleet Racing Championships he finished third out of a fleet of 100 boats in a six-race event that was restricted to just four races because of bad weather conditions near the end.

Smith finished 17th in the first race, 11th in the second, first in the third and fourth in the fourth to command a third place overall finish.

The winner was Todd Edwards of the United States followed by another American, Dick Tillman.

Meanwhile Bermuda's team for the Optimist Dinghy World Championships in Martinique this summer was confirmed at the weekend at the conclusion of their 30-race qualifying series. The squad consists of Jesse Kirkland, AJ Black, Husayn Brown, Lawson Williams and Jonathan Kempe.

The Championships will be held from July 17-24.

Sunday's finale took place in 15-18 knots, enabling the heavier sailors to snatch the initiative.

Ben Wicks emphatically won the day finishing 3, 1, 1, 2 and 1 over Lawson Williams and AJ Black. Jesse Kirkland was fourth ahead of Jonathan Kempe and Stephen Kenny.