The men’s lightweight crew team is mowing down every opponent that crosses its path.

In just two competitions in the spring season, the varsity boat has tasted only victory. With this past weekend’s sweep of the Joy Cup, the entire crew team has won a race. After overwhelming Georgetown and MIT in the pouring rain in Cambridge on Saturday, the Bulldogs will keep the Joy Cup in the Gilder Boathouse for the 29th consecutive year.

In the all-important IV race, the Elis jumped out to an early lead and fended off Georgetown before topping the Hoyas by 9.97 seconds and decimating MIT by 16.56 seconds.

Yale head coach Andy Card said MIT is going through a rebuilding year, but the Hoyas, skippered by a former Eli heavyweight oarsman, beat the Bulldogs in two of three races last year.

“We are always grateful to win, since we realize how close things can be in this league where everyone weighs the same,” Card said. “At the same time, we have worked hard for our speed and will work harder in the coming weeks to find more.”

Although the varsity eight’s victory secured the Joy Cup for the visiting Elis, the rowers in the 2V boat managed to speed about a boat length ahead of their 3V teammates. Both boats overtook the Hoyas on the Charles River.

The freshman boats sped to decisive victories as well. The 1F squad blew away Georgetown and an ailing MIT crew by 12.20 and a resounding 28.77 seconds, respectively. The 2F eight took its race by a margin of 11.02 seconds to complete the rout of the Hoyas and the Engineers.

“It’s always good to sweep,” Card said. “It makes for a real happy bus ride home. I am especially happy for the 2F, which claimed their first win of the season.”

“We’ve done what we trained to do so far,” Tyler Borek ’10 added. “But we still have yet to face many strong competitors. I’m confident that our training will be there for us later in the spring.”

The Bulldogs are back in action next weekend for their only home race as they battle Columbia and Penn for the Dodge Cup before taking on Cornell in a long day of competitive Ivy League crew on the Housatonic.