Powerboat aren't as efficient for slow going as a displacement hull and I imagine the motion would be more agreeable.
Most powerboats have inboards which take up precious space and are really inefficent to run at slow speeds.
Gotta disagree with you there, Rich. Down here, there are working "skiffs" designed for different waters, for example, Lake Skiff designed for Lake Pontchartrain; Lafitte Skiffs for the waters in the Barataria area; Atchafalaya Skiffs for the Atchafalaya Basin waters. Different conditions in those areas, hull design is different, though at first glance it can be hard to see the differences. Shrimp boats and net fishing boats do their work going slowly, and they are very efficient going slowly.
When my little 17' whaler with a 90hp outboard goes through a no wake zone, if I'm going at anything more than idle speed, I throw off a wake. Shrimp and oyster boats 30' and more will pass me up and they have no wake, and I really mean no wake. I've never seen a sailboat have no wake, no matter how slowly it goes.
Inboards taking up space - they do that in sailboats as well. All depends on how big a boat you want, how big an engine you want, and what kind of setup you want. There are tons of boats down here with hard tops, cabins, virtual apartments inside. These people use their boats to make their living, they'll often stay several nights out on the water, so they put whatever they need into them. Some of these boats are really nice inside. I was involved in a lawsuit down here with a guy from Delacvroix Island (bayou and marsh country). his house had burned, he didn't fix it for 5 years, but he put half a million into his fishing boat during that time. That was his living, and he could just as easily live on his boat as in his house.
Finally, as a basic premise, sailboats are designed to be sailed, and powerboats are designed to be powered (McGregor type sailboats and motor sailers excepted). That's why they call sailboat engines "auxiliary power." If you cut off the mast and the keel, a sailboat still is not going to motor comfortably or efficiently. That's simply not what they were designed for.