Sire Trinkof

Regarding speed it should be faster... Regarding turn rate, the question is not relevant as turn rate in game and acceleration are overrated a lot for gameplay purpose .... IRL it took 10_12 minutes to make a square rigged ship turning against the wind , so any comparison with in game turn rate is a non sense.... that being said, with realistic speed third rate, bucentaur etc... should be faster than frigates ... 😊, and 6th rate square rigged (Cerberus, surprise, etc... ) should be the worst sailor.

Hermione replica is too high on water and oversized due to régulation regarding ship tansporting passengers.... and reuced weight of artillery, powder, food water ... and 270 men on-board (on the real one decks were lower and would almost not allow you to stand up completely ) and the in game model seems to be based on the replica... this is why it appears so big compared to belle poule. They should have the same size and roughly the same waterline.

LOL ... read history a little bit more please : after Louis the XIV and spain succession wars, there were 4 wars between french and british : 1. Austrian succession war 1748 : considered an humiliation for british navy, on a more "rational" point of view, a draw on the seas, with some major french victories 2. Seven year war 1754 : Disaster for the french on the seas (and land) , mainly because of the "treacherous" war declaration : birt ceased and captured a lot of french ships before the war officialy started , and organised a lot of raid on french britany coast to capture civilian sailors who finally were deported into "Ponton" (do not know the english word). The official reason of this treachery was the fear from british admiralty to see the french navy to grow as strong as in the previous war, and the purpose to deplete quickly the potentials french sailor in the Navy 3. US independance war (1780 french involvement) ... another brit naval defeat (french lost some battles , won a lot more), with 1v1 engagements turning in favor of the frenchs. read about Suffen in indies for example ... 4. Revolution and napoleonic wars : French ultimate and crushing naval defeat , ... pretty obvious when the governement decimated and exiled most of the officer corps. sadly the most documentated fights are the ones of revolutions wars, and few archives are left from fights from earlier in 18th century, exept the major naval battles. Thing is a lot of the 1v1 victory of the french were not achieved by Royal officers, but by privateers. There were a lot of grey zone ships : "King's ship, sailed by captain under royal comission, but as privateer for private investors" Overall, I will not deny the Brits dominated the seas during the 18th century. Saying brits beated the french for over a century seem quite exagerated EDIT : Sorry, I was a little too fast to draw my sword in defense of my country, .... You specifically said in 1v1 combat. And I can agree on this ... but like I said a lot of fights from earlier in 18th century are not well documented

Long time not loghed in ... But I have to share my belle poule love ... Faster than a trinc (when loaded) due to the low weight of guns Good turning Live oak.... Just un-sinkable... With rigging specialist and reinforced sails, loaded with caronades... She is a beast, no other 5th rate has this mix of speed resistance and turning. Caronades makes the job to keep up with firepower. My second choice would be the surprise .