Boats with planing hulls are designed to rise up and glide on top of the water when enough power is supplied. These boats may operate like displacement hulls when at rest or at slow speeds but climb toward the surface of the water as they move faster.

• Boats with planing hulls can skim along at high speed, riding almost on top of the water rather than pushing it aside.
• Flat-bottomed and vee-bottomed hull shapes act as planing hulls. Most small power-driven vessels, including personal watercraft (PWC), and some small sailboats have planing hulls, allowing them to travel more rapidly across the water.