Underpowered Elven ships

Well, since elves will often have Major Helms (no problem with acceleration)
and decent pilots they will generally have the edge in the maneuver battle.

Having a decent MC helps maintain their advantage.  However, unless you can
actually get to MC A you don't get enough of an advantage to make a big
difference in combat.

Turreting a weapon should require at least one extra crewman, and possibly
slow the rate of fire.  Turreting a catapult doesn't give you any vertical
traverse.  The way I'd play a turretted catapult, especially a heavy catapult,
is that you pretty much set it to a particular angle when making an approach
and bolt the thing to its rails.  But then, I also scale up the damage
of Heavy Catapults a bit, target must save vs Crushing Blow or take x2
damage.  But then, I'm influenced by Harry Harrison's _Hammer and Cross_
series, where a single catapult stone often sinks a large galley.

But how do the elves win?  Well, the weapons are sheltered by the hull so
they take a lot of damage to destroy.  They will often have elite crews
and enchanted shot.  And if it gets to close combat they have archers
kill the enemies deck crew and then board.

But what advantages could a Man O'War have that would justify its problems?

It is a living ship, so presumably it can maintain air quality for a longer
time.  Because of its special construction, it could be more receptive
to certain spells, like Feather Fall for emergency helmless landings,
Increase Rating, and Improve Maneuverability Class.  It may be easier
to repair with the appropriate magic, although that magic is only
available to the elves.

Another idea is that the elves don't really have much choice.  An elf on
a non-living ship for 3 months will often go _nuts_, or at least lose the
nature-based advantages that most elves have.

Another idea is that the book Man O'War is simply the sort of Man O'War
most likely to fall into PC's hands.  In the hands of anyone other than
the elves, the Man O'Wars performance is degraded.

Some modifications to the Man O'War
The weapons are turretted and armored without requiring extra crew.
The magic of the helm and the living ship helps move the weapons.
This magic is diluted if too many weapons are loaded on board is
non-aesthetic locations.

Elven ships are often crewed for long voyages, and so wouldn't be
able to man huge numbers of weapons.  

Personally, I think the Man O'War is a sucky design for a ship supposedly
the terror of Wildspace.  If you reduce the numbr of crew required for
rigging it, it would make more sense.

Michael Sandy