Most brushless motors should perform almost the same in either direction, but brushless motor controllers often work differently in the switched reverse mode.
On the GM controllers, both the cruise control function and the regenerative braking function are disabled in switched reverse mode, therefore they can only be used when the motor is running in the controller's default direction of rotation.
This is unlikely to affect a boat installation where neither of these functions would typically be utilised.
On the later GM controllers built into the hub motors, the maximum speed setting is only 65 rpm in the switched reverse mode compared to 380 rpm in the forward direction. So if a wheel was inadvertently installed facing the wrong direction
(and the reverse mode was permanently switched to counteract it) the bike would have a very low maximum speed when riding in a forward direction, and the regenerative braking and cruise control would only work while riding backwards.
Alan