Great account of building your HMS Victory.
Answering one of your questions. The 4 boats on your model are not strictly lifeboats. No ship of the line would carry close to enough boats for the entire ship's crew. HMS Victory had 851 crew at the Battle of Trafalgar. The boats were instead intended for use in other operations. I'll list a few examples:
1) Ferrying crew ashore for any reason, or collecting stores, when not alongside in a traditional dock.
2) Ferrying people between ships in a Squadron. For example, all captains may be called aboard the flagship for orders.
3) Ferrying prize crews across to captured ships.
4) Cutting-out operations (going into an enemy harbour to steal ships) or other land-based operations.
5) Towing smaller boats.
6) Carrying an anchor to a site away from the ship to then use to tow the ship, especially if it has run-aground. Also potentially to warp out of a windless harbour.
The reason they were different sizes is that they would be used for different purposes. A small boat might be used for ferrying the Captain across to another ship for example. Here is a good article describing the different types of boats: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship's_boat
I have read an account of the Battle of Trafalgar which reports 4 boats being destroyed by cannon shot, these were:
Aft starboard: Large Cutter 32 foot
Aft larboard: Launch 32 foot
Forward starboard: Pinnace 28 foot
Forward larboard: Yawl 26 foot
Note a large cutter at 32 foot would maybe fit 60 men max. So with 4 boats we are talking 200-220 men at most from the 850+ crew.
