There is a traditional custom when it comes to sailing vessels and how they act upon the waves in regards to speed: the general rule of thumb is that smaller vessels, being lighter in materiel and cargo, are faster than their larger, bulkier brethren. In short, a large Galleon (a vessel historically known as a large merchant ship requiring escorts as protection) should by no conventional means be able to pursue, close distance with, and intercept a small sloop. Especially sailing close-haul.
Due to the sloop's smaller crew and armament, speed should be its key advantage, however this is not the case in game, meaning that besides a smaller turn radius the sloop has no advantage over a Galleon when conventional sailing thought would suggest otherwise.
So the point here being that speeds should be adjusted respectively to reflect each vessels traditional roles, whether that be speeding up the sloop or slowing down the Galleon, whichever works better.
But a problem does arise regarding this: what is to stop a now-faster sloop from kiting (using speed to stay at distance from a Galleon yet still engaging it while the galleon can't keep up) a Galleon? Simple, apply another convention: smaller vessels mean smaller cannon and smaller cannon means shorter range. Sloops should be fitted with smaller caliber guns that have a shorter range than the Galleon's cannons, meaning if a sloop wants to engage, they must close in on the target, where a Galleon can reach them.
