It was a busy weekend*. Sorry for not ringing in sooner.
As Rich said, each ship has three stats: Broadside, Handling, and Boarding. There are template stats for the major classes of ship, and you can further refine your ship, trading off one stat for another.
In the few tests I've done, smaller ships can take larger ships, though you'd better have a good helmsman (to improve your Handling) and better hope your opponent doesn't get too many hard hits in.
Without going into too many details, the ship manuevering and firing works a bit like the rest of the mechanics of the game: d10 + stat + modifiers compared to your opponent's d10 + stat + modifiers.
*: Not that busy. I spent the weekend cowering in fear of Teenage Rockabilly Grimm. :wink: