The bitter lesson for the Spanish was that even when they had the weather-gauge they could not grapple and board the English ships, which were fast enough and weatherly enough to keep whatever distance they chose. The Spanish all thought that the enemy seemed to be right, too, in trusting to their guns, for the English had more big guns and of longer range, and better gunners who could fire much faster. Everyone in both fleets said three times as fast, though it must have been hard to keep count.

Garrett Mattingly, The Defeat of the Spanish A…, loc. 673