The Radcliffe varsity lightweights regained their winning form Saturday on the Charles, overpowering a mediocre MIT crew in a strong headwind.

"They did what I told them to do--row conservatively. With the water as bad as it was, any mistake would have been very costly. I told them to get out in front early, keep an eye on MIT, and then take the cadence down," coach Peter Huntsman said.

The lights followed the race plan to the letter. They jumped the Engineers on the start, and had slowly increased their lead to one length by the 700 meter mark. They then dropped the cadence to a low 32 strokes per minute, and held onto their lead until only 400 meters remained in the race.

There MIT suddenly took a power twenty and cut the lights' margin in half. But Radcliffe coxswain Linda Coffman responded by moving the cadence back up, and the eight regained its earlier margin.

"When we took the cadence up with 300 meters to go, we just walked away. It seemed like they just stopped," number seven oarswoman Jane Clark said.

In other action, the J.V. lightweights took an early lead and fought tenaciously to hold it, but the MIT boat charged past and pulled away to a two-length victory.

The 'Cliffe lights travel to Worcester for the Eastern sprints next Sunday. The varsity will probably be seeded second behind Boston University, which defeated Radcliffe two weeks ago on the Charles.