I go back and forth on this. My dad had a 19' cuddy and we really never felt unsafe. We took a few waves over the bow and we got wet but never had a second thought about swamping the boat.
I owned a 26' bow rider and in four years, only twice I was stressed crossing the broads in big waves. I steered around the biggest waves and avoided taking one in the boat. But I felt there wasn't a lot of margin for error. I didn't think that canvas cover would keep the water out.
I don't know if one boat was actually safer than the other, I don't know if a wave over the bow in the bow rider would have been bad or just wet. But I know I felt safer in the cuddy.
Now I have a cruiser so this is moot for me. But you want a boat the makes you comfortable.
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