Does anyone have a view on the best design for the short chop found in the west solent?

I remember it well - a friend of mine bought a Mirror of all things in Cowes and as he couldn't sail (!) got me to sail it with him.  That just DOESN'T go through a chop.  All modern Merlin designs should be fine as bows are typically fine and flared, there are some of the older odd designs with full bows (Echo, early Holt's) which don't like a chop allegedly.  How much do you want to spend and how much weight do you need it to carry?

About £1500-£2000. and would like to sail solo alot. About 12 stone.

Brian Cobb's boat in Rutland would look your best bet.  That's an older Canterbury Tales with an alloy rig, well-maintained and ready to go according to his advert and certainly was last year.  There's not a lot else on the list at the minute at your price, though there is an NSM4 on Hayling Island, no details at all on the ad.  The other NSM4, Bucephalus, was at Hampton for a while and won't sell at that price unless something extraordinary has been done to it since.

Make sure you tie yourself onto the boat and have rescue cover if you are going out single-handed in the Solent!!

If you are looking for an entry to MR sailing and are looking for something that maybe isnt too difficult and in GRP then you could always try an NSM1 Rowsell/Omega.
It truly depends on what racing you are aiming to do because Merlins although can be sailed single handed are not that easy.
They are not setup for single handed sailing and it can be a long way across the boat whenyou are the only one in it.