Harvard's varsity heavyweight crew, fresh from humbling Penn and winning its sixth straight Eastern Sprints title, takes a vacation this weekend in sunny Cincinnati, Ohio.

The Crimson will race Wisconsin, Brown, Marietta, Notre Dame, and Purdue as part of the Harvard Club of Cincinnati's centennial celebration.

Rowing in a standard Pocock shell borrowed from the University of Wisconsin. Harvard should have little trouble with any of the other crews. Wisconsin, which finished seven seconds behind the Crimson (fourth place) in the Sprint finals, should provide the stiffest challenge.

Brown, which never made it to the finals at Quinsigamond, and Marietta will be the only other boats in the race.

Late Starters

The Badgers, traditionally late starters because of the cold Wisconsin winters, have come along strong in the past weeks. They finished 3.2 seconds behind Harvard in the Sprints qualifying heat, and beat both Dartmouth (by 0.9 seconds) and M.I.T. (by 9.4 seconds) in the Cochrane Cup race earlier this season.

We have been working quite hard all week to improve our form and execution in regard to blade work." Wisconsin coach Randall Jablonic said, "and we hope to be close enough to Harvard to take advantage of any mistakes they make."

Down Brown

As for Brown, Harvard trounced the Bruins by three and a half lengths in the Stein Cup race in April.

Marietta is unusually strong for a midwestern crew, and Notre Dame and Purdue should provide the comic relief for spectators. The Fightin' Irish made it to the semi-finals of the Dad Vail Regatta last week, and have beaten such teams as Worcester Poly, Amherst, and Grand Valley State (Mich.). Wisconsin killed Purdue in an early race, mounting only a 28-strokes per minute closing sprint to finish off the Boilermakers.