On the eve of the busiest weekend of the season, the Crimson sailing team is faced with a shortage of skilled manpower.

Nine skippers will be needed over the next three days, and team manager Guy Carden must rely on the untested abilities of a pair of juniors in two of the most important regattas of the spring.

The sailors will enter the Owen Trophy Regatta at the Coast Guard Academy today and tomorrow, going without the talents of Dave Stookey and Dave Gantz, the two seniors who were largely responsible for the team's successes last fall.

Stookey is simply in a slump and did not sail well in practice during the week. Gantz is struggling with a tough academic schedule.

Other Crimson crews will enter the Greater Boston Dinghy championship Monday and a triangular meet at the University of Rhode Island Saturday.