A foursome from Harvard's varsity lightweight crew defeated Vesper by four lengths Saturday to win the Princeton Cup at the American Henley Competition at Worcester.

The Vesper crew, whose shell had been ruined in an accident before the race, never challenged the Harvard oarsmen in the 2000-meter contest. But another Vesper fours-with-cox won the afternoon's other race for the Navy Cup; the Harvard oarsmen finished fourth.

Harvard had split its varsity light-weight crew in two for the races. The winning Harvard straight foursome (without cox) consisted of Topher Cutler, Bill Braun, Ken Moler, and Monk Terry.

The fours-with-cox which lost in the Navy Cup competition included cox Brian Sullivan, Gib Vincent, Mike Ridedski, and Roger Cheever. They lost to the Vesper, NYAC, and Cornell oarsmen.

Meanwhile, the Harvard varsity heavy-weights held twice-daily practices this weekend in preparation for Saturday's race against Yale at New London.

The varsity heavyweights will go into Saturday's four-mile race on a string of 26 victories over collegiate competition. Ever since it upset Yale at New London in 1963, Harvard has not lost a heavyweight race to another college.

This year's Yale crew, fifth-place in the Eastern Sprints which Harvard won, is currently experimenting with an Italian shell and rigging in an attempt to bolster its sprint power. The Crimson crew will consist of the same oarsmen that have rowed since the second meet of the season.

Harvard's junior varsity is the most likely to meet a Yale challenge. The Crimson freshman heavies, undefeated and the Eastern champs, are not likely to face stiff opposition.