[Steely Jim]

I don't think of my war sloop as just for hit and runs, although that is one of my favorite tactics. I also use my war sloop to move rapidly into a position and stop, so I also spend a lot of stationary time counting on Rank 4 Taskmaster to and Rank 4 Barrage (both will be Rank 5 in time) to add plenty of punch to my Rank 4 Broadsides (still deciding between 2 points in Windcatcher or upping both broadsides to Rank 5). For the biggest ships I may need to sail out in front a couple times, but I still often stop completely while the ships close on me (usually because they're moving slowly due to not having much sail left). I usually just rotate my ship around a little to fire on my next target; if all goes well, then I get a few ships before I have to move.

EDIT: As an example, for the recently added Cutlass quest, I I used my war galleon to quickly mop up the Sea Adders and Corvettes, then used the war sloop to hunt down the Barracuda and Marauders.

EDIT2:
I don't actually own a war frigate yet, but I have a frigate in the fleet. My ratings would be:

war sloop=tactical assault
war galleon="that's no moon...."
war frigate=floating cannon trainer for a small army

EDIT3:

In an example from my last sail, I took out almost all the sail points of a Predator on my port (in the Leeward Passage) and while it sailed into broadside range I ran to the starboard side and took out a Marauder with the cannon, all while parked.