Pan American Games silver medallist, reigning World Sunfish champion and 2003 Athlete of the Year Malcolm Smith is about to turn back the hands of time and revisit the past ? sailing in the comet fleet.

Smith, who enjoyed an outstanding 2003 international sailing campaign, is set to make a return to the comet race fleet for next week?s annual Long Distance Race ? a race the top local skipper will use as a warm-up ahead of upcoming international commitments.

Smith has previously recorded three top-three finishes in the Long Distance Race and was runner-up to Stevie Dickinson in the early 1990s.

?I haven?t sailed a comet for a few years and so I just hope to go out there and have a great time. And it?s very difficult to jump in a boat you aren?t familiar with,? explained Smith, who will skipper the boat of absent sailor George Hayward currently off the Island with Bermuda?s senior national football team.

Smith captured a silver medal ? the Island?s sole medal ? in the Dominican Republic before ascending to even greater heights in winning the World Sunfish Championship in St.Martin shortly after.

?It?s a very difficult race . . . a very draw- out race,? he noted. ?Depending on the conditions on the day . . . it will determine what tactics to use. There?s just a lot of things you have to consider entering into the race.?

He added: ?I?ve spent some time in the comets. I did the comet territorials a few times and the comet international in 1992. So I have spent quite a bit of time in the class. But I am looking forward to the race and I hope everything goes well. And if we (crew member and wife Julie) can come out on top, then we will certainly take it. Perhaps we might become the dark horse of the race.?

Also returning for yet another bite at the cherry is veteran skipper and former Olympian Howard Lee.

Lee represented Bermuda at the 1976 Montreal Olympics in the former Finn Class and has laid claim to the Edward Cross Cup on three occasions during an illustrious career.

The veteran skipper is joined onboard by grandson and rising Laser Radial skipper Rockal Evans.

?We haven?t sailed that much but our confidence is very high. I have been training and so I am physically fit.?

Lee hopes to cross the finish line this year intact, having snapped his mast late in last year?s race near the finish line.

?I am going for the win,? he boldly declared. ?Rockal (Evans) has been training with the junior team at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club and so he is in very good shape . We are both in great shape . . . grandpa and grandson.?