Patent ID: 7594835

Claim:
In an engine driven marine vessel having a hull and at least one engine driven propeller operatively associated with a tunnel formed integral with said hull of said vessel, said tunnel having first and second surfaces which run generally parallel to a longitudinal axis of said vessel, said first surface and second surface being contiguous with a bottom side of said hull, a third surface running parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vessel being contiguous with said first and second surfaces and forming a roof of said tunnel; said first and second surfaces each further including at least one transition section which connects each of said first and second surfaces respectively, with the bottom of the hull of the vessel, said propeller being of a predetermined diameter, said first and second surfaces define a width of the tunnel, the width of said tunnel located at and above a center axis of said propeller being in the range of 1.03 to 1.1 times the diameter of the propeller, an air inlet connected to a vent, said vent in communication with said tunnel, said vent extending from a transom of said vessel to a location forward of the propeller, an additional air inlet in the transom, and an additional vent, said additional vent positioned generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vessel and is also in communication with said tunnel.