Yes bring smaller ship to the admiralty store/pirate den so new players can make use of it.
Change the cost of building 1st/2nd rate ship so we don't see them in hords "all"the time,for example to build a first rate you must spend 100 maybe 200 victory marks.
So maybe each clan have 1 or 2 flags ship each not 100...
Maybe it would balance things more out and we can see more smaller ships out there.
Just my opinion though