I finally cracked, caved in, conceded defeat and bought some more ships from Warlord Games for Black Seas ..
Yes, having said for almost 2 years that this was a beer and pretzels game, and that having more, bigger ships would not add anything to the experience... well, of course, that was all lies anyway.
So, here are a couple of 3rd Raters - one done as British, one as French. I do also have the third that comes in the set but haven't rigged it yet.