Crew En Route to Washington Race

Coach Tom Bolles and his top-notch, eight-men-and-a-boy, Varsity combination--plus two Jayvee oarsmen and the co-managers--are at the moment far from their accustomed aqueous habitat as they hurry westward by train for the 2000-meter Lake Washington regatta on Saturday.

Having left Sunday from Poughkeepsie where they witnessed the Poughkeepsie Regatta, they are not without company. Every crew in the Regatta, with the exception of the winner--Navy--and Rutgers, is on the same special train for the exact same purpose.

Regardless of a natural post-Yale meet letdown, the Crimson must stand as favorites in the University of Washington invitation race, in which they finished fifth out of a field of eight last year.

Primarily, their unenviable position as "the crew to beat" is because of their superb showing in the Eastern Association's 2000-meter sprint regatta at Princeton last month. The Varsity won going away from Navy and Cornell, the number one and two boats in the Poughkeepsie event, in the time of 6:05, just off the distance record. In addition, their nearest competitor was more than seven seconds behind.

Although the traveling layoff bodes no good for the Bolles' sweepswingers, the entire Seattle entry list is aboard the train and forced to accept the same conditioning hazard. For this reason, prior physical conditioning will play a heavier role than usual; and before entraining, Bolles happily stated that his boys were in tip-top shape.

Fortnight's Boom

Temptation to break training flowed like champagne last Wednesday night at the Red Top victory banquet after the Yale Regatta; but the Varsity remained uncompromisingly aloof, as they have since they began following strict training rules last March.

On that night, Wednesday, Red Top--the crew's headquarters on the Thames--was fanned brightly by a post-regatta celebration as the climax of its brief spark of 1947 glory.

For only two weeks of the year, Red Top, consisting mainly of a two-story, gray building with crimson shutters, a few scattered cottages, and Bacon Boat-house, is inhabited by Harvard men. And, until after the races, it has a quiet aura of inhabitation.

Spread along the eastern Thames shore about four miles above New London and about a mile below Gales Ferry, Yale's headquarters, Red Top stands on a wooded slope in solitude, characterized by a leisurely, narrow, rock-strewn path from the dormitory and dining hall through the foliage to the boathouse.

Come Regatta Day--as last week, swarms of Crimson well-wishers have to be fought off by gatemen. Only parents of the crew and various official personages are admitted. Occasionally, however, the solitude of the Boathouse was broken early last Wednesday afternoon by the arrival of dinghies from the yachts off shore, looking for more beer.

The four-mile course itself was lined on one side by all species of craft from leg-driven, paddle boats to sumptuous three-masted schooners. On the other side, wherever piers broke through the dense shrubbery on the bank, stood enthusiastic crowds. In all, an estimated 5,000 viewed the race.