Ahhh don't we all ...... I have been on two quests in my years of boat ownership: The first is beautiful teak with no effort .... still looking. The second is high gloss gel coat, again with no effort .... and again still looking.
Gelcoat breaksdown when left exposed, this is the white chalky "dust" that ends up on your hands or in the water when you scrub the hull. As this oxidation occurs, the flat polished/shiny finish becomes microscopically pitted. This pitting dulls that nice shine we all want. What has to be done to restore the shine depends upon how much oxidation has occurred.
In the most severe cases, light or heavy compounding may be needed to remove the microscopic pitting. The next step would be a polishing step whereby the flat surface is made extra smooth and the shine returns. Once satsified with the shine, wax is applied to protect the gelcoat and seal the shine. Usually two coats applied over the course of several weeks. As the wax breaks down, you have to reapply to protect the gelcoat. Think of the wax like the sacrifical on your genoa.
If you just apply wax without getting the surface smooth, it may present a dull shine for a little while, but will not last.
What I use:
I use 3m auto and marine products pretty much exclusively, with the exception being a West Marine teflon wax. For compounding I used a machine and 3m auto compound, only have had to do this in small spots. Polish is the 3m 3000 swirl remover. Wax is the 3m marine liquid for first coat and the second coat is the teflon. The exact names for the 3m stuff has changed in the past two years but do a little research on their website.
The most important thing is once you have it the way you want, keep up with it. How often depends upon where you are and what conditions the boat is kept in.
Hope this helps, good luck.
Barron