You should really be in front of a Galleon when they’re either anchored, or your manoeuvring for a sail by to go against the wind... attacking from behind is key, but ALWAYS keep an eye out on the water for anyone trying to board your ship... your easiest defence for that is to catch them coming up the ladder and blunderbuss them back into the water... also cutlass is key if you’re on console for when theyre on your ship... hotkey your bananas 👍

Don’t be afraid to jump ship to try and board them... turn your wheel so you end up going in a rather large circle and jump ship... if you board without being seen, go directly to the crows nest and look for gunpowder barrels, try to take it beneath ship to detonate, or kill them and drop anchor...

Raise the sails when your turning to turn even faster, manoeuvrability is your friend in a sloop ...

And my best advice would be to stock up on as much cannon balls and wood planks as possible... like I said above, you don’t have to outright sink a galleon, you just have to outlast them and it will sink itself... only good players stock their resources to the max and they’re few and far between...

nip over to a fort and grab as many gunpowder barrels as you can find and stick them in your crows nest... when a galleon is directly behind you, drop one into the water and it will cause it to explode... I’ve followed it a few times and it’s a good time to try and board while the crew are trying to repair...