In racing on the Charles Saturday, Harry Parker's sophomore-primed varsity heavyweight shell proved itself worthy of its illustrious predecessors by rowing to a smooth five-and-a-half length victory over Princeton.

Crimson crews scored a near sweep over the weekend, winning 11 out of 12 races. The lone loss came as the fourth freshman heavyweight boat bowed to Boston University's third freshman by two lengths.

Harvard's varsity time for the mile and three-quarter course was 9:46.8, with the Engineers from M.I.T. almost eight lengths back. Starting at 40 strokes per minute, the Crimson settled to a 33, with Princeton at a 32, and M.I.T. at 30 minus. The Tigers led for the first quarter mile by a few seats, with Harvard slowly nibbling away at their margin. After a half-mile, the Cantabs forged to a one-length lead.

Crimson Makes Break

At the Massachusetts Ave. bridge, a noticeable rain began to fall on the wind-swept Basin, and Harvard moved out ahead by a comfortable two lengths M.I.T. was one length behind Princeton.

After that, the Crimson margin simply lengthened out.

In the junior varsity heavyweight race, Princeton held on longer. They led for the first three-quarters of a mile, but were overtaken at the Mass Ave. bridge. By the half-mile-to-go mark, Harvard had opened water on Princeton, and went ahead to win by almost two lengths with a time of 9:58.5.

In the third varsity race, M.I.T. led almost the entire way, but the Cantabs finally nipped their lead by one second at the finish line. Amherst, Brown and the University of Massachusetts also entered shells, but none of them challenged at any time.

Harvard's varsity lightweights started their race at 41 beats per minute, Navy at 39, and both crews dropped to a 34 for the body of the race. With a half-mile to go, the Crimson had two lengths on the Middies. Navy's desperate sprint effort at 40 failed to narrow the gap.

The Crimson junior varsity had an easy time of it, defeating Navy by three and a half lengths in a time of 6:46 flat for the Henley distance.

The first freshman heavyweights rowed an unusual but smooth race at the amazingly low cadence of 28. "I just told them to get out there and row at whatever felt good," said Coach Ted Washburn. They understroked Princeton by about six beats per minute for most of the race, winning by three and a half lengths.

All three freshman lightweight shells scored simple victories for Harvard on Lake Quisigamond at Worcester Saturday afternoon. Opposition included the Holy Cross varsity, junior varsity, and first freshman heavyweights, the University of Massachusetts, and Wesleyan.