by Bob Perry
Issue #57 January/February 2026
My editor suggested I review the Nonsuch-36 for this issue. I thought that was a great idea, but due to the unstayed cat rig, I thought it would be best to couple it with another cruising boat with a cat rig, the Freedom-36.
I know the Nonsuch-36 quite well, as I once went cruising with Graham Kerr, aka “the Galloping Gourmet”, the owner of a Nonsuch-36. We had a good time and ate very well. I was surprised by the performance of the boat.
Let’s start with the Nonsuch, designed by my old friend Mark Ellis (RIP) and built by Hinterhoeller Yachts in Canada. Why is it called a “cat rig”? Wikipedia says, “The term ‘cat’ may come from the ‘cat head’, a protruding cross beam, not far behind the bow, or head, of a sailing ship, to which the anchor was attached when the vessel was preparing for sea. The mast of a cat-rigged boat is stepped near the point where the ‘cat head’ would be.”
I’m not sure I buy this explanation, but nonetheless, we have cat boats where the mast is in the bow. You may be familiar with Cape Cod cat-boats, known for their enormous beam, outboard rudders, and centerboards. I’ve spent many happy hours sailing a 12-foot Beetle Cat, which is a small version of the Cape Cod cat-boat.
Mark Ellis took the idea of a cat-boat and gave it a modern twist. The hull is beamy, with a Beam-to-Length ratio (B/L) of 2.84. I consider any boat with a B/L ratio under 3 to be beamy, and a skinny boat tends to be around 4. So the Nonsuch is beamy, but not as extreme as a Cape Cod cat boat. Like the Cape Cod cat boat, though the Nonsuch has virtually no overhangs. It has 2.5 feet of total overhang on a 36-foot overall length.
The displacement is 17,000 pounds, for a Displacement-to-Length ratio (D/L) of 197. Instead of a centerboard, like the Cape Cod cat boat almost always had, the Nonsuch has a medium-aspect external lead fixed keel drawing 5.5 feet. The rudder is a partially balanced spade. In contrast, the Cape Cod cat boat had barn-door outboard rudders with very little depth, in order to complement the shoal draft of the centerboard.
You should know that the Cape Cod catboats were notorious for weather helm. It was just something you accepted with that design. They had very long booms, usually overhanging the stern. The more moderate shape of the Nonsuch main would mitigate that tendency somewhat. It is easy to see that good Velocity Made Good (VMG) to weather was not the primary focus of this design, but the boats still go to weather nicely.
Mark had a great eye and never drew an ugly boat. This shows in the aesthetics of the Nonsuch. You might note the full ends of the Nonsuch in the plan view. There is a strong sheer line, and a complementing cabin trunk.
