As two surging shells swing away from the starting line at Bartlett's Cove and head down the four mile stretch of blue Thames toward the Railway Bridge at 7 o'clock this Saturday, Harvard and Yale oarsmen will match strokes in the seventy-ninth annual meeting of these traditional rivals.

Moved one week forward from its traditional Friday after Commencement, the race is being run off earlier this year because several of the rowers have Navy Sci cruises coming up in the next two weeks. Further hint of war is seen in the government's announcement that passengers on the observation trains refrain from taking pictures of the Navy submarine base at New London.

Crimson Favored

The Crimson rowers take to the water with the odds highly in their favor to lead the Eli boat across the finish line by a comfortable margin. Unbeaten is the East this year, Tom Bolles boat has yet to be closely pressed, and although it was reported that Yale had turned in a 20 minute run in practice under favorable conditions, Harvard's time, even in rough water, has been closer than that to the 19:51 record.

According to latest reports from Red Top where the crews have been working out and practicing for the last week, both boats will be stroked by Sophomores. Bus Curwen, rangy Bolles' number eight man, seems to be firmly seated after his pace-setting against Navy, Princeton, Cornell, and Syracuse. Eiliot Macy will stroke the Blue boat.

Elis Untried

Yale comes to this race on the whole an untried unit. Rough water on Lake Cayuga called off the Cornell race which might have proved quite valuable as a yardstick for judging the New Haven boat. In its two races, Yale came from behind in the first to beat out a powerful Syracuse boat at the finish line. In the other, over the short Henley distance of a mile and five-sixteenths at Philadelphia, the Eli oarsmen turned in a very weak and unpromising race, finishing third behind Columbia and Penn.

Cubs Given Even Chance

The Freshman boat will open Regatta Day at 10:30 o'clock in the upper two mile downstream row of two miles. In spite of their unpretentious showing to date the Crimson cubs are no weak unit, and have been given a better than 50-50 chance to turn back the Yale cubs.

Half an hour after the Freshman race the Jayvees will stroke down the same course. The Harvard juniors enter this race favored over their opponents and this crew should show open water before the Bridge is reached.

Only other race of the weekend is the combination race on Friday evening in which the substitutes of both boats will race. Here again, from their showings during the week's workout at Red Top, the Crimson boat should be first home.

If Harvard's Varsity should manage to win again this year it will be the sixth time that one of the rivals has managed to defeat the other six times in a row. Yale has succeeded in doing it three times, and Harvard twice.