@jacksonwallop
I think the changes that were made are the middle ground, there is no reason to allow a crew to keep re-spawning after they have been beat.
I mainly sail a sloop and often have to take on four people and have got quite good at sinking them. Though with the previous system even if we sunk them and they had treasure aboard, it was next to impossible to get it back on our ship as they would re-spawn with full hp/ammo and several times would be able to board us after 10 minutes of non stop fighting and we are forced to flee due to lack of numbers. Hands down just silly.
With the new system once we beat a four man crew and we kill off what is left, it's rather rewarding. Once you've been beaten(ship sunk) and then killed off, you should be done. The same four man came after us two about six times before they gave up trying to sink us.
I've seen people say battles are over too quick. If that's the case then you are dealing with a novice crew. I think repairing should take longer and if a cannon ball hits near a repaired area it should break open as well. Only to fully repair when parked at an outpost. A good crew can stay afloat all the while being shot at non stop as long as they have the materials to do so. I think that's a bit much and the repair system needs to be a bit more punishing.
The only way I've got around this is the merc people while they are on the deck of the ship. Making sure to target people on the cannons first and kill whoever is driving the ship. Then move on to sinking it seems to work the best for me. Anytime someone is green enough to try and anchor swing around to shoot gets an explosive barrel put under there ship as we pass by.