Two-time world champion Filip Matika made light of a 13-point deficit after the first day of racing to be crowned champion at the XL Capital Bermuda International Optimist Sailing Regatta yesterday.

Having been held up in New York the night before the event was due to start, the heavily jet-lagged Croatian took to the water on Friday well below his best.

But it wasn?t long before the youngster began displaying his undoubted class, only falling out of the top five once in the next eight races to finish with 18 points.

Argentinian Victoria Travascio accumulated 22 points to finish second, a position she maintained throughout the 10-race regatta. Another Argentinian, Sebastian Peri Brusa, finished in third with 31 points while Brazilian Marco Grael, the first day leader, endured some poor results by his standards yesterday to finish in fourth on 31 points.

But despite his come from behind win, Matika commented afterwards that his performance was no more than ?adequate? and he appeared somewhat frustrated that he did not win by a bigger margin.

?Overall I?m more or less happy with the way I performed though I?m never completely satisfied after I race,? he said.

?I was really disappointed with the results on the first day but I was tired because of all the travel problems and the time difference. Still, I got a number of bad starts today and had to work hard to get back. So there is still a lot I have to work on.?

Asked whether, as a two-time world champion he felt any additional pressure when competing in regattas such as this one, the Croatian responded that he ?never feels pressure? and concentrates solely on his own performance when he is racing, ?not anybody else?s.?

Meanwhile, Cameron Pimentel was the most successful local sailor, finishing in 11th place on 76 points and winning the seventh race outright. Sean Bouchard and Ryan Saraiva placed just behind him in 12th and 13th respectively.

These three, as well as the next seven best Bermudian sailors, have now automatically qualified for the ten-man team being sent to the International Optimist Dinghy Association South American Championships in Chile this Easter.

Bermuda Optimist Dinghy Association president John Gardner said yesterday that he was ?delighted? with regatta, despite losing a day to bad weather, and expressed an ambition to increase the number of competitors in years to come by ?almost half.?

?There was some very intense battles at the top,? he said. ?There was some phenomenal racing and some very exciting tussles. Everybody is very happy with what has gone on but obviously we will do a proper post mortem and analyse the whole event in detail.

?Dick Kemp, our number one juror, commented to me that he thought it was very well run and if the jury is happy, that is usually the best litmus test for success.?