I just finished reading "Kydd", by Julian Stockwin. It has one very
different aspect to it from O'Brian, Forrester, Kent, Pope, etc. This
is the only Age of Fighting Sail novel I've read where the protagonist
is a common sailor. A pressed man.

Here's the web site for the author, in case you are interested.

http://www.julianstockwin.com/

I took a quick look, there appear to be four books in the series so far.

Also, A&E is airing the two new Hornblower movies Dec. 2 and 3. So it
is a good time for fans of the time when ships were made of wood and
men were made of iron. 8)

http://www.aetv.com/tv/shows/horatio_hornblower/