FWIW, and that may not be very much, I have heard from a source I can't remember (I'm old, give me a break) that weight in the bow was bad for sailing performance. Also mentioned was that lots of anchor chain in the bow was cause for poorer performance.
I have not done any testing, but I do tend to empty my bow water tank before the others in order to lighten the bow.
I will wait for the real sailing experts to clear this all up.