A slight favorite to win the Varsity race and an even a slighter one to sweep the Regatta, the Crimson oarsmen will get their first a stiff competition of the year on the Basin this afternoon against Cornell, Syracuse and M. I. T.

Introducing the Washington stroke and taking up where Jim Way left off last summer, Harrison Sanford has been working feverishly on his Cornell crew all year, and today it looks as if the Big Red will be a real threat.

Seriously handicapped by adverse weather conditions all season the Cornell crew was the last in the East to begin actual Practice gave this Spring, and the lack of sufficient long workouts was evident when their Varsity eight trailed the Middies by a length last Saturday.

However, Navy has one of the best sprint crews in the East and the heavy Cornell boat has improved during this last week. That smoothness and coordination which makes for a winning boat is being developed. The Big Red will be winner some time this season, but at present it looks as if this Saturday wasn't quite going to be the occasion.

The most interesting aspect of the present race will be the opportunity it gives for another comparison with the Navy boat everyone wants to know about. Both Harvard and the Blue and Gold best Princeton by the same margin; will they fare likewise today?

The Big Red's first year boat-was regarded as the favorite after their sterling performance against the Plebe crew last week; but they have been disrupted through the ineligibility of Willerton and Fisher, and the illness of Hooker.

In the Jayvee race, Harvard is again a slight favorite; while in all three races Syracuse and Tech are out of the running. The race for last in the Varsity event between the Engineers and the Orange should be very close, for when they worked out on the Charles yesterday the Syracuse eight showed a decided tendency to check badly.