Some place I read a post (I think here but I couldn't find) that said you should not wax the hull of your boat because it would reduce hole shot and top end speed. My thought before this was that waxing the hull would provide some hull protection and reduce surface tension between the hull and the water. Therefore you might see an ever so slight improvement in performance and the wax would provide a bit of perfection.

Also when on plane so little of the hull is in the water I wonder about the affect on top end speed.

Could some of you comment on hull waxing and the pros and cons of doing the work. If hull waxing is a detriment I sure don't want to spend the time working on it.

Never tried it but it is my understanding that waxing the bottom of the hull will cause a decrease in speed. That said, you should wax down to the part that does not ride in the water to protect it from road grim.

I'm getting ready to try Bow to Stren (BTS). I'll let you know how it works but I've heard rave reviews, even better than Boat Saver and BTS is supposed to increase your speed when used on the hull.

Keep this post up and I'll report back on my findings.

I'm no expert on hydrodynamics of boat hull design but essentially here's why not waxing your hull is better.  As a boat moves forward through the water, a non waxed hull will experience more friction against the water than a smooth hull.  This will actually cause the hull to "lift" ever so slightly more out of the water than a waxed hull. Since you want as much of the boat hull out of the water as possible to achieve maximum speed, since it's the boat hulls drag thats slowing you down in the first place, then the non-waxed hull is "A good thing" as Martha Stewart would say.

Kinda what cart7 said but has more to do with the shearing affect on how the water release from a smooth surface and a rough surface.  But to make it more simple, unless your boat will run in 70's or faster, you would probably never see a difference in performance.  It does not affect hole shot, only top speed.  If you have a fast boat that will get up on the pad and run 70 or more You can wax all the hull but the last six feet of the pad.  From the last six feet back in an outward V shape, wet sand that part with 320 grit sand paper.   With one of my hotrod motors on my Javelin and running fairly light, I gained 3 mph (from 81.7 - 84.5) just by blueprinting the hull and wet sanding the pad as described.

However, don't waste your time doing this unless you have a very fast boat to start with.  Wax it, take care of it and make it look pretty, because it's not going to make any difference.

I would not worry about losing 1 or 2 MPH of top end speed by waxing the hull of my boat. The benefits of having less of a scum line and it being easier to clean what little there is when there is one of the benefits of having a nicely waxed hull.

I have a 89' charger 186 Foxfire with a Evin 150. Under normal load and lake conditions she'll run 61-62 mph (GPS)

I never made a connection with my speed falling off until I read this post. I got into a habit of waxing my boat every after every 4th or 5th outing and noticed my speed dropped off by about 4-5 mph every time back on the water after the fresh waxing. But then after running the boat a couple times my speed came right back. Finally something to blame. I never could figure out what the heck was going on. I think I will start waxing a little higher in the hull and see if I can keep the scum line off but not to get where the boat rides under power.  Thanks Guys for the eye opener.