The Z-Plane Hull
More speed. Less fuel.
- Patented 1991
- On every Stingray built
Every Stingray is built on the patented Z-Plane hull. It lets water pass under the boat clean, with no bubbles and no vortices formed by the hull shape. Cleaner water at the propeller means better bite, so the boat does more with the horsepower you give it.
01In Stingray’s own words
Just what is a Z-Plane hull anyway?
Most of the marine industry continues to use the same technology of a century ago. By incorporating much of the technology from the auto and computer industries, STINGRAY set out to revolutionize the boating industry and bring quality to a new peak.
The exclusive STINGRAY Z-plane or "zp" hull is the first major step in that direction. There are no added volumes or surfaces (strakes). Z-planes act as horizontal planing faces when submerged, and when very near the water's surface the outside edge of the Z-plane acts as a spray release. This revolutionary design passes through the water with no bubbles or vortices formed by the hull shape.
The smooth flow of water generated by this design allows the propeller better bite during both straight line speed and hard cornering maneuvers.
Designed on CAD
Developed on the CAD (Computer Aided Design) system, this hull is absolutely fair. The use of planar lines have caused the hull to be dip-free from whatever angle it is viewed.
Notched transom
The Z-Plane hull has a notched transom, adopted from the offshore racing boats, that allows the drive to be mounted higher to reduce drag and increase performance.
50%
Prototype cost, cut
A numerically controlled (NC) router is used to mill full scale models for tooling, bypassing the manual lofting process entirely. This process reduces prototype cost by more than fifty percent.
1/1000"
Build accuracy, from 1/16 inch
The use of computerized design has taken the accuracy level of manufacturing boats from 1/16" to 1/1000" and has allowed for design to be done in 3-D. A scaled 3-D human model allows Stingray the advantage of designing the boat around you, not just making you fit.
02The hull, up close
Most planing hulls add surfaces.
This one takes them away.
Most planing hulls run raised strakes, sharp ribs along the bottom that create lift and knock down spray. The Z-Plane hull has none of them. There are no added volumes or surfaces at all. The bottom itself is formed into horizontal planing faces, stacked one above the next all the way down to the keel.
- 1Stacked planing faces
- 2Outer edge releases spray
Submerged
Each Z-plane acts as a flat planing face, carrying the boat's weight.
Near the surface
The outer edge of the Z-plane acts as a spray release.
03What the water does
No bubbles.
No vortices.
The whole point is what the propeller gets.
Water that has been broken up by the hull reaches the propeller full of air, and air is not something a propeller can push against.
The Z-Plane hull is shaped so the water arrives intact. The smooth flow of water generated by this design allows the propeller better bite during both straight line speed and hard cornering maneuvers. That is the whole argument, and every number further down this page is a consequence of it.
04Independent test reports
Proven
on the water.
Stingray Boats have been tested by some of the marine industry’s most trusted publications under real-world conditions. The results show how Z-Plane performance translates from design to the water.
Boating Magazine
“Stingray’s patented ‘Z-Plane’ hull adds speed and stability, and is easy to drive. According to design engineer Drew Gantt, the design is optimized for today’s heavier outboard engines.”
What they recorded
68mph
two-way average top speed
Boating Magazine
testing a 23 OSX with a Yamaha F300 outboard
42mph
wide open, on a 90 hp outboard
Power Boating Canada
testing the 191 DC, now the 19DC, with a Mercury 90 four-stroke
<3sec
from a dead stop to fully on plane
Boat Guide Canada
testing a 3,364 pound Stingray
6.8mpg
at 3,500 rpm, burning 3.1 gallons an hour
Lakeland Boating
testing a 19 footer with a Mercury engine
Every figure here is one boat, one engine, one day, exactly as the magazine tested it. Your own numbers will depend on your boat, your engine, your load and your water.
Every report, in full
Many boats, when pushed to the limit, trimmed up and run at wide-open throttle, do some chine walking and get downright squirrelly. Stingrays are specifically designed to not behave that way. The company's Z-plane hull, first introduced in 1991 and tweaked since, really does an interesting thing. It features contours to the running surface that extend beneath both sides of the integrated swim platform. This creates a three-point contact with the water at higher speeds. Less hull in the water makes the boat faster, yet the running surface on both sides of the boat skims along the water and provides stability. Stingrays have always impressed me with their easy handling when you feel that need for speed.
The Z-plane hull is all about performance, so what better way to start a sea trial than by burying the throttle? Put the hammer down and the 3,364-pound Stingray seems to pop up on plane almost instantaneously, taking less than three seconds to roar from dead stop to fully on plane. The hull's efficiency really is impressive, because time to plane doesn't seem to change much regardless of how the prop is trimmed. It just gets up and goes, exactly as you want.
This 19-footer outperforms the competition with less power and manages to get better fuel mileage and speed when compared to similar-sized and equipped models on the market. Consider the following: With a Mercury engine, she'll do 45.5 mph at 6250 rpm burning 11 gph at a rate of 4.1 mpg. At 3500 rpm, the boat burns 3.1 gph and gets 6.8 mpg. Not too shabby. This standout performance is directly related to Stingray's Z-plane (zp) hull.
With the boat up and running, the Z-planes continue to contribute by controlling spray and ensuring that the boat's running surface passes through water that's free of any bubbles or vortices that could reduce performance. The smooth flow of water generated by this design is said to also allow the propeller a better bite, during both straight line speed and hard cornering maneuvers.
The thing is, thanks to Stingray's Z-plane hull, these boats have a superb ride, perform flawlessly and are surprisingly economical on fuel — features any boater can appreciate.
05What you feel
The advantage shows up in three places
Speed and fuel
More performance out of every horsepower.
Fewer bubbles under the hull means less drag, which means you can spec a smaller engine and still get up and go, and spend less at the pump doing it.
Ride and handling
Slices through chop, and comes onto plane smoothly.
Running surface contours extend beneath both sides of the integrated swim platform, and Lakeland Boating found this creates a three-point contact with the water at higher speeds, with none of the chine walking that unsettles many boats at wide-open throttle.
Build precision
Designed on CAD, cut to a thousandth of an inch.
Numerically controlled routers took manufacturing accuracy from one sixteenth of an inch to one thousandth. All-fiberglass, foam-filled stringers mean nothing in the structure can rot.
06Where it lives
It is under every boat
we build.
Not a trim level and not an option. The Z-Plane hull is the hull, across all three categories in the lineup.
one hull
Center Consoles
- 17CC
- 20CC
- 22HY (CC)
- 24HY (CC)
- 26CC
Dual Consoles
- 17DC
- 19DC
- 20 SBX
- 22DC
- 24DC
- 26DC
Deck Boats
- 19SC
- 20SC
- 22SC
07Since 1991
Patented in 1991.
Refined every year since.
The Z-Plane hull is not something Stingray added recently. It was patented in 1991 and has been improved on ever since, by the same family-owned builder that has been making boats in Hartsville, South Carolina since 1979.
The promise, as one number
40+ mph
on a 115 hp engine, on the 20SC deck boat
One boat, one engine. It is the clearest example of what the hull is for.
- Every model
- One hull
- Your nearest dealer
See what it does
on your water.
Reading about a hull only gets you so far. Your local Stingray dealer can put you on one and let the boat make the argument.