Saturday the excitement started after the race for the Harvard lightweights.

Peter Raymond's stronger-every-day charges barely needed to exert themselves en route to a convincing sweep over Navy on the Severn River in Annapolis, Md. But after the Crimson oarsmen had departed, Haines Cup in tow, the return trek to Cambridge presented all the challenges the travellers could have wished for on an overcast weekend.

The day began at 5:15 a.m., as the crews took advantage of calm, early-morning waters and chose to race in the wee hours. Varsity two seat Mike Cominsky summed up the varsity contest, saying, "Navy was with us until the start of the race. After five strokes they could have been considered 'Missing In Action.'"

Settling to a modest cadence of 34 and working long, smooth strokes, the varsity lights steamed to a 10.5-sec. victory. As Cominsky put it, "Navy just forgot to weigh anchor, I guess."

The J.V. boat, after surprising everyone by grabbing a full-length lead after the first 15 strokes, had trouble settling and battled wakes for the full 2000 meters, still managing a 7.3-sec. win.

"It was kind of a waste of a 2000-meter piece," captain and six seat Jeff Cooley said yesterday. "We'd take five or ten long strokes and then get hit by a wake. It was sloppy the whole length down."

Never Should've Left

In the water it was a fine day for the oarsmen, but once they got out of their element, the Crimson's luck soured. With Logan Airport fogged in, Harvard was forced into a circuitous, alternate return route.

A bus from Annapolis to Baltimore/Washington International Airport left the lights playing Frisbee and riding the baggage claim conveyor belts while waiting for news on the ill-fated flight to Boston. After that plane had been cancelled, the oarsmen motored to National Airport in Washington, D.C. for a quick plane ride to Hartford, Conn. The team then bused into Cambridge via a dinner stop in Springfield--at the wonderful hour of 1 a.m. . . . ten-and-a-half hours after departure.

"We found out later a bus direct from Annapolis would've gotten us there sooner," Cominsky said after the confusion had settled.

CRABS: The varsity prepares for its biggest duel of the season, next week against Yale and Princeton, in New Haven . . . Both the Elis and the Crimson are undefeated, though Yale beat Dartmouth by 11.9 seconds while Harvard won by just 6.7 seconds.