Chennai: Darkness had set in when Hussein Bhavnagarvala sailed to shore. He soon flashed a bright smile.

The little Hussein had won two of the three races on Monday, the second day of the Chennai Port Trust National Optimist Coastal Sailing championship.

"I did not make mistakes. And the wind favoured me," said the TNSA lad. It was an afternoon of light wind conditions, which suited a light sailor such as Hussein. And he played the percentages well.

Hussein clinched races four and six, while compatriot Ganapathy topped in the fifth.

Stormy conditions

Ironically, the conditions were stormy at the beginning of the day. The fourth race had to be resailed because the wind swung about 40 degrees north. Earlier, in squall-like conditions under a cloud-cover, the wind speed went beyond the 20 kmph mark.

The results: Race 4: 1. Hussein Bhavnagarvala (TNSA); 2. Ganapathy (TNSA); 3. Dilip Nalla (INWTC); 4. Zephra Currimbhoy (RMYC); 5. Sankalp Kapur (CESC).

Race 5: 1. Ganapathy (TNSA); 2. Rufus Kani Patrick (TNSA); 3. Hussain Bhavnagarvala (TNSA); 4. Sarav Rajavelu (TNSA); 5. Nishanth Chandrashekar (TNSA).

Race 6: 1. Hussein Bhavnagarvala (TNSA); 2. Arisudan (CSC); 3. Rufus Kani Patrick (TNSA); 4. Sankalp Kapur (CESC); 5. Gaurav Pikale (CSC).

Positions at the end of the day (all results are provisional and the jury will hearing a couple of protests. If Nishanth Chandrashekar wins his protest of Sunday he will lead the championships with 31 points): 1. Arisudan (CSE) 34; 2. Sarav Rajavelu (TNSA) 34; 3. Gaurav Pikale 42 (CSC); 4. Dilip Nalla (INWTC) 43; 5. Shwetha Sadanand (TNSA) 45 (Arisudan is ahead of Sarav Rajavelu despite both being tied on 34 because of his higher finish positions).

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