This is probably addressed in several places on the boards, but a search for "pirates" returns sooo much junk, it's practically impossible to find what I've looking for.

So, I was wondering if some of you could suggest some good tactics for dealing with pirate raids.  What's the minimum static defense and best arrangement I need to handle  low level raid?  Say I don't feel like bidding on the pirates at all for the game.  Obviously I'll still have to take that money and invest it in defenses.  But what's the most efficient way to defend against a pirate raid without diverting fleet materials?

Thanks.