A friend and I spent a few hours doing some level 25 gold hoarder voyages this afternoon, we had about 25 chests or so on board. We set off for the last island before we were to go sell at the outpost when a sloop closed in on us and gave chase for a good 20 minutes. We didn't want to risk the fight and had way too much treasure to loose, but we couldn't get away safely. Running out of options, I spotted a galleon parked on the horizon and made a beeline straight for it.
I yelled out to the man on the ship for help in exchange for treasure but he opened fire on us. The boat chasing us sailed passed and took a hit or two, so I looped the island and went back around, eventually the galleon took up a proper fight against the persuer.
We got away and cashed in our loot. Was intense and risky. Felt good.