I've been watching the olympic swimming and notice that nearly all of
the swimmers wear the new performance swimming suits. I did a bit of
research on the web and came up with the following quote from Speedo:

The LZR-Race suits promise to have 5 percent less drag than Speedo’s
previous best FASTSKIN PRO suits that have helped break world records
in the past year. Speedo also claims swimmers will have 5% better
oxygen intake efficiency thanks to stronger core compression section
along the abdomen area.

I wonder whether this phenomena applies to boats? Should we be
attaching shark skin to our boats?

I have seen the dinghy sailors polishing the underwater surfaces of
their dinghys with 2,000 grit sandpaper and wonder whether this might
actually be the wrong thing to do.

Is there any empirical information regarding the application of this
technology to boats?

Bruce-in-Bangkok
(correct Address is bpaige125atgmaildotcom)