Jake,

Check out Bethwaite's book. I believe he mentioned something about waxing vs. not waxing his "GREAT ALMIGHTY AUSSIE SKIFF".

It's not documentable enough to win the brew, but it's a start.

I agree with the comments that polishing hulls does accomplish two things:
(1) it puts you in a racing mindset by focusing your brain on going fast
(2) it offers you the opportunity for CLOSE inspection of the hull, and you can spot and repair scratches, road grime, crud, etc. that could slow you down.

Last time I polished the hulls (about every 6 months), I noticed some scratches that I repaired. I wash the hulls before every race, and I once found that my daggarboard tape was sticking down (which has GOT to be slow), and fixed it.

This probably is only something the top sailors need worry about, since more of us blow races from bad tactics, bad technique, or just bad manners....