Santo Domingo -- Malcolm Smith had a restless night on Saturday.

“I was seeing numbers,” he said.

What they were he did not say, but yesterday the only numbers he saw were ones.

Sunfish skipper Smith had two bullets to ensure him of a second successive silver medal at the Pan-Am Games.

With long-time rival Eduardo Cordero having already sewn up the gold medal in the waters off Boca Chica and therefore not contesting the final two races, it was left to Smith, Raul Aguayo of the Dominican Republic and Diego Zimmerman of Peru to fight it out for the silver and bronze.

The Bermudian's overnight nerves were clearly misplaced as he shot off the line in the opening race and forged a lead he would not relinquish, finishing streets ahead of his rivals.

He need not have raced the final contest, but unaware of the other pairs' official placings he decided to compete just to be safe.

It proved a great way to confirm his medal placing, Smith once again cutting loose from the rest of the fleet and punching the air as he crossed the line in a rare public show of emotion.

“It was a rough night's sleep last night,” said Smith, who finished on 26 points from 12 races, five behind Cordero and nine ahead of Aguayo who took bronze for the host nation. “I guess numbers were going through my head and it was something I just couldn't shake out. I woke up a lot earlier than normal and it got to the point where I just said, ‘heck, I'm going to turn the TV and try and rest'.

“I then came down here this morning and said ‘relax, be cool'. With a five point lead between third at the time I basically just needed to win the first race and have the Dominican finish third or worst.”

That was easier said than done and Smith has had problems with his concentration once the breeze lightens up, but yesterday he was flawless.

“The breeze didn't lighten up today,” he said. “The pressure stayed for most of the day, I don't think it ever got to below 12 knots and during the second race it must have got up to about 15 knots.

“It was a hard hike the whole time, so you had to work the boat in the waves and the swell was really nice. It was exciting to be able to win two races today.”

Smith's victory was one for the old school, the 44-year-old putting sailors many years younger in the shade.

“They call me a veteran,” he said. “There's a lot of young kids in our class that are sailing really well and I think if you give them a few more years they are going to be right there.

“I am a veteran, I'm 44-years-old, but if I can hold my own in the big breeze with these guys I'm not so much of a veteran as they think I am.”

Smith said his triumph was not down to just his own skills, but also those of Argentine coach Dino Weber, who made his services available to both he and Bermuda's Laser sailor Zander Kirkland.

“I would like to thank Dino for doing a great job with us,” he said. “I never met him before, he shows up here and he was so keen to get us on the water and see what the boat was about. He has never worked with a Sunfish sailor or a Sunfish sailboat before and the work he did with me really helped improve my upwind and downwind performance and I've really got to thank him.

“I've also got to thank the Bermuda Olympic Association for supporting me over the last four years and prior to the last Games.”

Having been world champion twice and had numerous other honours bestowed upon him, it has been suggested by some that Smith should look to test himself in another class, one that is recognised at the Olympic Games.

The skipper disagrees. “I don't think I'll ever stop,” he said. “Sunfish is where it all started for me. We have a great class, we have a lot of camaraderie with our sailors. We are a group of people who have a really good time. The World Championships are a lot of fun and I'm going to stick with it for a while.”

Canada's Martin Vezina, who lives in Bermuda and sails out of Spanish Point Boat Club with Smith, finished second and third yesterday to claim fifth, his aim at the outset of the campaign.

Meanwhile, the aforementioned Kirkland fought all the way to the line to ensure himself a fine seventh place finish out of 15 in the Lasers.

The 20-year-old was in a three-way tussle at the start of the day with Johnny Bilbao of Venezuela and Miguel Aguerre of Uruguay.

But it was the Bermudian who took honours in their mini battle, coming sixth and eighth yesterday to head the other two by one point and four points respectively.

“I was so relieved,” said Kirkland who had to battle back from way off the pace to beat Bilbao to the line in the second race. “On that second beat I was thinking ‘too bad, he's too far ahead'. But then I got round the marker and thought ‘maybe I have a chance if I put a really good leg together'. And I did, I pulled it off.

“It shows that I don't give up and my downwind speed is definitely a weapon of mine now - especially in these conditions, where the upwinds were tricky to get ahead of people. I knew if I could just hang in there I could pass them downwind. That's what made the difference for me.”

Kirkland heads to the World Championships in September in confident mood.

“That's going to be huge regatta and I have to keep on training and keep my fitness up,” he said. “It will be intense but I just want to keep moving up.”