Wraith



Wraith is a 1996 navy blue Laser (full rig) sailboat. It was purchased by Zachary McCune in 2004 for $1000 and included a trailer, which has now been lost. It is currently kept at Sail Newport in Newport, RI, where it can be easily launched for casual sailing or racing.

History
Wraith originally came with a laser radial rig which even at 16 was too small for Zack. He competed in one event, the 2004 Newport Regatta, and felt underpowered the entire time despite sailing in a fair seabreeze. As a member of Sail Newport's "Advanced Race Team" (ART) he was able to sail Wraith 4 times a week and often at regattas on the weekend. A friend at ART agreed to trade Zack a full rig sail and mast upper (necessary to extend the mast for the bigger sail) for his radial rig, which allowed him to move onto sailing very competitively as full rig sailor.

Racing & Results
After moving up to the full rig, Zack found himself to be a much more capable racer. He went from finishing in the middle of the ART weekday practice races to rarely losing (a first, trust me). He competed well against peers from Ida Lewis Yacht Club (see Jeff Knowles) and placed well at regattas.

One event in particular standout from that first (and last) summer of competing in Wraith.

The Sakonnet Yacht Club One Day
Zack sailed an epic regatta at Sakonnet Yacht Club in Little Compton, RI during a major thunderstorm. As the front came on, the seas increased from generally flat water to 5 feet and the wind rose to over 30 knots. Struggling to keep the boat down was the least of problems during the race. Instead, the general struggle was to keep from pitch poling down wind. Huge gains could be made by going "balls out" down wind, but generally the risk resulted in a violent capsize.

Zack finished 4th in the fleet to his great disappointment.

Sailing Wraith Today
Today, Wraith is used purely for recreation. Recently, it hosted the Brogan family for some informal sailing lessons. Before that, Zack took Wraith on a long sail to Mackrel Cove in Jamestown, RI for the annual raft-up (known formally as "The Gam").