Yup, it's confusing, because the varnishes that you're referring to are actually water-borne, rather than water-based.
This website explains the difference and how it works.
Like Barry, I don't personally like water-borne varnishes, although they are improving. My method (not original, by any means!) is to take a good old-fashioned PU varnish (I like Ronseal Hardglaze, or look for one that tells you to use white spirit for cleaning your brush), decant some of it into a large clean coffee jar and add the same amount again of white spirit (ie a 50:50 cut), put the lid on the jar and shake well. (Any remains in the jar after the job seem to last for ages.)
Apply it evenly with a lint-free cloth (old worn sheet or pillowcase, wet rather than damp, but not dripping), and store the cloth in the coffee jar when you're done. Allow it 24 hrs to dry (somewhere warm and dry), lightly sand with the grain using fine sandpaper, perhaps 400 grit, dust off with a tack rag (see car painters suppliers), then repeat as many times as you need to build up a fine finish. Many thin coats, rather than one thick sticky one. Or you could spray it if you have the kit.
Yes, it's time-consuming, but there will be no brush marks and it's pretty much foolproof on a well-prepared surface.