The range is probably too far

What I am calling a glitch, is not what the developers fixed (by increasing the range when on a particular ship) but by having the captain oriented incorrectly to the steering wheel. That glitch is relatively new. It used to put you properly behind the wheel every time, no matter what.

On the Black Pearl, when I do right broadsides or open fire or take cover, the people on the front four cannons cannot hear me. (How ironic! The "open fire" command - can't be heard, haha! Yet still has effect!) That text is not, and should not be, crew messages - they are local messages only. And that, indeed, is tied to distance. I always thought that distance was the same as crew bonus distance, but who knows.

Now, the whole chat system has serious issues; far too many. Let's not even bring that up, here. Only talking about the distance (and why war galleons are better than war frigates.)

Aye, the positions those at the helm take these days when sailing can be rather humorous.

The one handed sideways steer.
The no handed steer from a short distance.
The im looking port (or starboard) and steering with one hand...

Any combination of the above.. lol this likely compounds the problem of the "Crew Bonus" area.