When I was looking at boats... He11, I'm always looking at boats, the Formula 233 was on my short list too. There were quite a few in the right price range but most needed so much work that the reality was that I would not be able to get on the water anytime soon so I passed them up. I did see some bracket conversions that did not look very well balanced in the water. I came across this photo on the web at some point and saved it as it shows a 233 with a bracket that seems to work very nicely. It's the boat in the back ground...
I'm not knocking the Formula but the hull design is more of a high performance sport boat along the lines of Scarab, Donzi, etc. Very good at high speeds in rough conditions but still not ideal for the kind of use that we are talking about. My thoughts on the ultimate rough water fishing boat hull is along the lines of a Blackfin, Bertram, or a variety of Ray Hunt designs. These boats are obviously out of my price range but here is one model that I could possibly afford some day...
it is a North Coast 24 and was also made by Shamrock for a while as a Grand Slam model. The hull is desiged by Charles Jannace who also did the Blackfin 29 and 33 and it shows. If you ever see one of these in person the vee and the sharpness of the bow are unbelievable. This is one boat that I think could handle a 10' wave! There seem to always be a handful for sale in the low 20's but I came across one that for sale at 9k w/o trailer and needed engine work but I am sure it could have been had for much less. I still regret that I didn't at least try a lowball offer. I wouldn't have a working boat right now but boy would I have the ultiamte project boat! Of course I would need to keep it in a slip but I want to do that at some point anyway. Now don't go and burst my bubble by bringing up the fuel burn.