Looks good. I like the water effects and the visible crewman very much. However the ships are too dark, you don't see any details. Additionally usually in battle the boats were towed behind the ship.

Gargoyle is right: to minimize shrapnel and flying shards of wood debris if hit, the ship's boats would be towed behind, or even cast adrift, to be retrieved later if the ship was victorious. Of course, the scenario might be that, the battle was so sudden the boats couldn't be lowered. One observation, of which I admit I might be mistaken: I can't recall any event that a frigate was crewed by pirates. (note the black flags at her masthead and gaff) Maybe Blackbeard in the early 18th century, captaining the Queen Anne's Revenge, or the Adventure Galley, purported to have been a 40 gunner... most pirate vesels were small coastal craft that could hide in the shallows of the Southeast coasts of the American colonies or the inlets and small islands of the Caribbean. But that is being too anal, I have really enjoyed this artist's work, as some of the very best of this genre on ANY 3D site. His site, www.age-of-sail.com, is bloody fantastic....anyway, a very cool render.

Nice work......!!!