Have you ever wondered why the exhaust of a Back Cove is on the starboard edge of the hull? Kevin Burns, VP of Design and Product Development, gave us the scoop!
All engines produce exhaust gases and therefore need a place for those gasses to exit the hull. According to Kevin, there are three basic location options for where to place an exhaust port in an “above the waterline” or “at the waterline” wet exhaust system. The graphic below describes these three locations and a few positives and negatives associated with each location.
The green text outlines the benefits of the exhaust placement and the red text explains the negatives.
As you can see from this diagram, using the corner exhaust is ideal for the following reasons:
- no back flooding
- no gasses under swim platform
- no station wagon effect
- the noise stays behind boat
- no gasses trapped by wake
What is the station wagon effect? Backdrafting, or the “station wagon” effect occurs as air moves around a boat and forms a low pressure area immediately behind the transom or back of the boat. Exhaust fumes entering this area are fed back into the cockpit and into cabin.
Kevin Burns says, “Back Cove’s custom corner exhaust port is more expensive to fabricate and more complicated to design and install than a side or transom port, but since introducing this design element we’ve been able to lower the noise levels associated with the exhaust note both on board and measured from the shore. Additionally, we’ve eliminated nuisance spray that is generated at certain speeds by the hull side wake being interrupted by the trapped side gasses inherit with the side mounted port. All of the extra effort pays off in the form of a more pleasant and safe boating experience.”
