There was, as captain Charlie Altekruse said, "no real excitement to it." Merely business as usual in the first official race of the year for the Harvard heavyweight crew.

The victim was Brown. The oarsmen collected their 16th straight Stein Cup--they have never lost it--with a length-and-three-quarter victory over the Bruins Saturday on the 2000-meter Seekonk course.

Coach Harry Parker's charges moved out smoothly and, rowing at a cadence of about 35 strokes a minute, pulled in front early and spent the rest of the race widening the margin. The oarsmen finished in 5:43.0 to Brown's 5:48.7.

No Problems

Lack of varsity experience for the one senior, five juniors and three sophomores has yet to prove a problem--the Crimson had little trouble in the Brown race and in an unofficial scrimmage with Dartmouth last Saturday.

Ted Tsomides, a sophomore in the high-pressure position of cox, said yesterday the shell had difficulty in the near-perfect--calm water, slight tailwind--conditions.

Harvard superiority filtered through the ranks in Rhode Island. The junior varsity cruised with little difficulty, 5:59.9 to 6:09.0; and coach Ted Washburn's number-one freshman boat had even less trouble, winning 6:13.0 to the Bruins' 6:41.0.

Tiger Trap

The Crimson's next encounter will pit the varsity eight against Princeton in the annual Compton Cup race next Saturday in New Jersey. Harvard hasn't lost the Compton since 1962, and the Tigers--losers to Navy earlier this year--stand little chance of reversing the trend this year.

In fact, the oarsmen stand little chance of being upset until the Easterns, where they meet the menacing, defending champ Yale crew.