I'm thinking about buying my first boat, possibly a 17 foot bow-rider
(e.g. Maxum 1800 MX, Crownline 180, Bayliner 175 etc) and I'm keen to
know what sort of sea-state this type of boat can handle. All sales
pictures show them flying along on flat lakes but never out to sea.
All my boating would probably be within a couple of miles of the south
coast (England)

I've just done the RYA level-2 powerboat course in a 7m RIB. That
could easily handle the inshore waters around Wales. It was blowing a
force 4-5 with a 3-4ft choppy swell - it was brilliant fun flying up
and over the waves and then surfing back towards shore but how would a
bowrider handle those sort of conditions?

Any advice will be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.