the grey thunder can deal with chop, however the WAVE shark is the king of the waves. all you have to do is tape the hatch, install the rider, velcro down the batteries and the wave shark will right itself if it capsizes-no swimming to get it before it sinks. if your talking about chop that is under 3 inches, then the grey thunder or aqua jet is fine. but for big waves such as jumping a wake of a boat (6-15 inches of water height) then you definately want a wave shark hence the name.