Those same surfers think that an unshaven face and wearing a hat backwards is cool,now I'm no marine engineer but
water clinging to the hull would seem to me to be drag and high sheen would repel water.If my memory serves me well
(and I'm really old)back in the 70s the navy dept. was doing research on dolphins,there seems to be hard tissue(like
pencil erasers) just under the skin and with fast exceleration the spaces between the "erasers" contract so less water contact ergo faster speed.There are a lot of great marine engineers and biologists on this forum and I hope someone will step forward and set Robert and I straight on this issue. Nick R.