Lightweight Crew

Rough water along the lower part of the Basin cut the scheduled time trial of the Varsity 150 pound crew and the third Varsity short to a half mile yesterday afternoon. But in that brief spin along the Cambridge shore it was evident again that Bert Haines' current first eight is one that easily stands alongside Tom Bolles' Varsity and Jayvee boatloads in excellence.

Over two weeks ago a Tech lightweight crew rowed its way into prominence as it edged the Tigers on Lake Carnegle; and last week the Harvard fifties had their first trial in the clash with this same Tech boat.

That race was the thriller of the Rowe Rogatta. The two boats came through the bridge and down the sprint to the finish neck and neck. Perhaps Tech was ahead by a few feel, perhaps they weren't, but fortune was with the Crimson and in the last 100 yards Tech's number seven man did a reverse feather, almost stopped his boat dead.

Yesterday afternoon, the Lightweights started fast with a 40 beat in the first minute and pulled away from the third Varsity quickly and steadily throughout the half mile, until they had a length at the finish. Bert Haines wouldn't announce the time, but he was grinning broadly as he admitted it was "fast".

No Soft Snaps Ahead

Ahead of this crew no soft snaps are waiting. Saturday they meet a Tech crew that is anxious to reverse the tables and a Columbia eight that licked Yale by a quarter of a length. Just how much that means is still to be seen, but the race is likely to be close enough to mean that for the second time in as many weeks, the fifties will provide most of the thrills of the Regatta.

Plans have just been completed for the boat to go to Princeton for the American Henley Regatta on the fifteenth. Eight crews will make up the list of competitors, and besides Tech and Columbia, the Crimson also opposes Manhattan, Cornell, Penn, Princeton and Yale. Derby day against Yale and Princeton completes the schedule a week later.

Four veterans of the first fifty eight of last year make up the nucleus of this eight, three Juniors, George Lewis, George Meyer and Ralph Hamill, and one Senior, Captain Mark Healy Dall, veteran of two seasons. Of the other four, Bunny Burnes rowed bow on the Freshman crew last Spring, Gordon Gilkey on the Freshman fifties, and Edward Ahrens and Robert Mozley came from the second Varsity lightweights.

The crew rows smoothly at a high stroke, their balance is good, and they have a lot of power. Like the Varsity they have a chance of an undefeated season. If they can best Tech again, on the basis of comparative scores they should be able to edge Princeton; and if they best Columbia they should be able to edge Yale. So everything depends on this Saturday--everything except that comparative results usually mean little. But no one could deny that the prospects are indeed rosy. By Caleb Foote '39.