The Harvard heavy weight crew team has never had much trouble with Northeastern, sporting an unbeaten streak going back 16 years to when she (non)rivalry began. So in the Crimson's 2000-meter season-opener Saturday on the Charles, the best surprise was this surprise.

The Harvard varsity eight, fighting wind and choppy waters throughout, powered to a boatlength lead in the opening 500 meters and held it the rest of the way, beating Northeastern by a length-and-a-half to leave no doubt who owned the Charles waters.

Later in the day, the lightweights completed a Crimson varsity sweep by rowing to an impressive four-and-a-half length win over Coast Guard a showing which bodes well for Harvard's chances in the Eastern Sprints next month.

In the heavyweight race Harvard maintained a steady 35 strokes-per-minute clip, beating the Huskies by five seconds. "The main factor in the race was definitely the conditions" Captain Campbell Roger said yesterday. With our lead after the first 100 meters we just tried to row smoothly--we were battling the conditions more than we were Northeastern."

The Crimson performance was not visibly hampered by the absence of junior Jim Relle, who had been stroking the varsity boat in some pre-season practices. A former light-weight at the University of Joronto. Relle transferred this year and has yet to have his FCAC eligibility confirmed Relle's case is currently pending, with a decision possibly coming later this week.

Junior Andy Sudduth, who stroked last year's ill-fated Yale Race, replaced Relle in the varsity boat Saturday. Relle stroked the second heavyweight boat, which lost, while Harvard's third boat best Northeastern.

The Crimson lightweights mimicked the heavies by getting a quick jump on Coast Guard in the first 500 meters and then riding the tailwind on the Charles to victory. The worsening of the water conditions as a result of the heavyweight races made it tougher for Coast Guard to make up its early deficit.

The lightweights strong debut could very well lead to one of their more successful seasons. "Everyone in the boat is hoping for an undefeated year--we have six returning lettermen [of eight] and we're rowing better now than we were at this point last year," senior veteran Dave Moore said yesterday. Yale, Princeton and MIT figure to be strong challengers.

Both heavies and lights should get a taste of stiffer competition this coming weekend. The heavy weights will host Brown, while the lightweights will battle Dartmouth and MIT on the Charles.

THE NOTEBOOK: While Coast Guard is the traditional season opener for the lightweights, the heavies in the past two years have opened their season in California at the San Diego Classic Coach Parker decided to skip this year's race, won by the University of Washington (with Yale third) last week... In other crew action Saturday, Princeton lost to the Navy heavyweights in New Jersey but the Tigers redeemed themselves in the lightweight race, coasting to a 15-second win