The armament of the three-masted jacht Brak

A minor point, but one that I had not known, is that the armament for the Amsterdam three-masted jacht Brak (and probably the Windhond, as well) was 4-8pdr, 12-4pdr, and 2-3pdr. I still do not understand the wide use of the 2-3pdr guns, but they were usually found on all the Amsterdam Directors' ships and others, as well. They were less like to appear on older States' ships. The Brak and Windhond were very similar ships. They both were 115ft long and had beams of only 23ft. Their hold measurements differed slightly, although Ron van Maanen credits them both with 10-1/2ft holds. Sources:

1. Carl Stapel, unpublished manuscript "Lijst van Nederlandse schepen in maart 1653", 2006
2. Ron van Maanen, unpublished manuscript "Dutch Warships 1600-1800", undated, but circa 1992