The Gale is a one on one brawler ship that excels in closing the distance to unleash a fast and destructive barrage of shotgun-like projectiles. Consider a Gale like the Thunder's big brother, quickly annihilating small to medium size vessels.

Abilites define how you play a ship in what role. The Gale has 4 abilites, which allow it to stay in the fight or lock down a specific target for destruction. Pick abilities tailored to the way you like to play.

Dimensional Leap:

The Gale's first ability is a role definer. This ability is a medium distance blink with a moderate cooldown. The best ways to use Dimensional Leap come in 3 flavors: Closing the gap, Flank Tactics, and everyone's favorite, running away.
Closing the gap refers to the practice of jumping on targets between 100 and 75 vessels away. Use the in game HUD to tell how far a target ship is before you decide to jump. Remember, surprise is very helpful in easily nuking targets. Try not to undershoot or overshoot your target ship, as you lose precious time as you reestablish yourself. Use this tactic on support ships such as the victoria and engineer ships such as the Hammer.
Flank tactics refers to the practice of blinking behind an enemy to surround them with fire. While I just said try not to overshoot your smaller targets, you'll want to overshoot larger, less manuverable targets such as the Rock. You will be able to fire your weapons to less retaliation, especially if you have an ally assisting you.
Finally, the simple practice of running away is far easier with a quick blink to either your allies or some sort of cover. Blinking to cover takes some practice as the HUD does not tell you how far a floating stone is.

Shield reload:

Simple, straightforward ability. Use a shield reload if you prefer to be a tankier ship to aid in frontline combat. Pop it when you hear the "shields down" warning in the thick of battle.

Torpedo volley:

Extra damage for your attacks. Use it to break shields on medium size vessels, or pile in damage into the frontline.

Slowing Torpedo:

This ability ends those annoying Thunder ships. By shooting one of these bad boys at the light crafts, you net yourself an easy kill. Try not to use it on large ships, as they pretty much are snails anyway and you won't accomplish much.

(No in depth review for each weapon, as they all play pretty much the same way.)

The Gale's signature multicharge cannons are fearsome in close combat. Don't be fooled by the long name; every weapon on the Gale is a shotgun and should be used as such. The bow weapons easily dish out 500 damage at point blank, and are ideal for shield removal. Follow up with a couple volleys from your broadside cannons for some quick and easy kills.

As I'm sure you've probably noticed, every part of this guide screams "get close to your targets to kill them". Your weapons are next to useless at any range farther than 10-15 vessels. IT IS FAR BETTER TO CONSERVE WEAPON COOLDOWN AND GET CLOSER THAN BURN ALL YOUR COOLDOWN SHOOTING WHILE YOU APPROACH. Remember the power of a Gale comes from unloading your whole weapons system as close as you can to your enemies, not sustained damage.

I hope you all learned something not only about the Gale, but the ships the Gale plays against. Good luck with her, as the Gale rewards good play with fast and easy kills, not damage. Always measure yourself by the amount of kills you get, as your sustained damage is lackluster at best. Best of luck on the High Clouds, captains.