My own leanings towards Kirk as a favorite in Trek, disregarding his being irresistible to all and sundry females, make me agree with your assessment of his abilities. I don't know, I could relate to his sense of responsibility about his ship and mission and people. I never could really get into Spock's Vulcan-ness as being all that appealing, the talk of honor and so forth, though his scientific curiosity resonated with me.