I think it's a hard game to play well. Once the game starts my grand strategies usually devolve into the minutiae of trying to make the right move each turn and take my shots at the right time.

I usually just use ball ammo and take nearly every shot I can, because I'm not really good enough to rely on setting up the perfect situation. Crew or hull kills can both work. It's very dependent on what chits are drawn, so it usually becomes an issue only in the endgame. At that point, if my crew is getting decimated I will try to avoid musketry, and if the enemy is low on crew I will try to close and finish them off.

I think the usual war/wargame strategy of trying to defeat the enemy in detail is super important once you get 2+ ships per side. If you can gang up on part of the enemy's line, thus getting off more shots, that's often the road to success.

Playing 2 ships against 1 larger one, I normally try to avoid letting the enemy use both broadsides, while angling so one of mine gets in a raking shot. This is hard. If it works a couple of puny Davids can bring down a Goliath with surprising ease. When it doesn't work it can get bad in a hurry.

Sometimes you can also use superior maneuverability to good effect--dancing around at extreme range or forcing the enemy to try to beat upwind in an unfavorable situation. This is also hard to do, and several turns of fancy footwork can be negated by one false step...