It was handy when doing screen shots. I found some skellys, mostly Phantoms, in a tight group (I think south off of PR). I shot the masts off of one, did the 'man overboard' glitch from my frigate then jumped on the crippled ship. It was fun taking those shots but without cannonfire (I didn't have a crew) there was no "drama".
I wish I knew this glitch when I was going through the Pirate Lore quest but otherwise its just like other exploits. Might be useful if your nearly sunk tho and can get a flag (like the Corvettes off of Cutthroat).