Five Crimson Crews Win Derby Regatta

The Crimson lightweight crews maintained their undefeated record Saturday, sweeping all five races against Yale and Princeton at Derby, Conn. The decisive victory puts the varsity at the top of the seeding for the EARC sprints this Saturday.

None of the Crimson crews, with the exception of the J.V.'s, had any trouble winning the one and five-sixteenths mile races. Unexpectedly, it was Yale rather than Princeton that finished second in the varsity event, but in the other four races the Tiger crews crossed the line ahead of Yale.

The wind was quite shifty during the day, boosting the second freshman boat to the fastest time over the course while acting as a headwind against the varsity.

Staggered Start

The start of the race was staggered to compensate for a turn in the course, and the Crimson shell, in the outside lane was given a lead of a few seats. The varsity race had to be restarted when on the first attempt the Eli number seven man caught a crab within the first 30 seconds. On the start that followed, Princeton made up its handicap even though the Crimson pulled out at the fantastically high stroke of 48 for the first 15 strokes.

But as soon as the crews settled to 32 for the body of the race, the Crimson shell began to move steadily ahead of the other boats. The varsity easily stayed in first place while Yale and Princeton fought for the runner-up position.

Going into the homestretch both the Elis and Tigers were sprinting at 40 while the Crimson pushed its stroke up to only a 37. The varsity's time for the Henley distance was 6:37.2, about a length and a half ahead of Yale's 6 42.4 and Princeton's 6:43.4.

The J.V.'s won only by about 8 feet ahead of Princeton. In the third varsity, freshman, and second freshman races, the Crimson won by at least a length each time.