I had a berth in a marina next to a Pretorian 35, which is not a bad sailing sloop of the same era. The owner was quite experienced, having sailed her through the canal to the Azores and back, also out to Hawaii. Every time I would see him there we would talk about sailing and he would frequently ask about the Nonsuch, "but does it go to weather?". One day I saw him out on the bay, beating towards Alcatraz. We came up on him, drove through his lee, hardened up, and left him in our wake.

He never discussed sailing ability with me again.