FWIW, I hate gankers and see it as lame. I never saw the fun in getting 10 friends and jumping a ship. However, I feel the 1.5 BR is not effective in solving this. Today, about 10 pirates were ganking ships between Port Royal and Port Morant. They were still able to fight each other to hide in battle screen. If they hit a ship near the middle of the two towns, players in port were unable to help. In one of them, the 1.5 BR limit made it impossible for chase ships to join because some heavies that were closer joined first. So while the Brits outgunned the pirates, the pirates just ran.
I appreciate the attempts to reduce ganking, but I feel this one doesn't work. I think a better way is for battle markers to never disappear until all ships have left battle. That way when I see a pirates vs pirates marker, I'll be sure to avoid that area. Or at least know their battle ratings.
Ps. I never really saw the fun in this, Renommee was the only ship on the horizon when it tagged us. Older picture:
http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/280722393127506183/73D7EA33919074A7C313D51063AD6088B0B69A82/