Adequate ventilation on a boat is extremely important.  The interior of a boat can fall victim to mold & must if not properly ventilated.  Issues can arise for both occupants and equipment if insufficient ventilation is left to run free.  A wind scoop provides a means of air flow through a boat's cabin and interior.  An intake vent and an outlet vent are necessary to provide effective ventilation.  The wind scoop is located at the intake vent in order to draw air directly into the cabin.  By placing the wind scoop over the forward hatch of the boat it allows air to not only enter the boat, but provide a better force to allow for more air exchanges within the cabin. This is commonly found on large boats and sailboats.

Based on a building's size and orientation a wind scoop can be rather effective.  The job of the wind scoop is to pull the outside air through occupied spaces within the building.  So depending on a building's overall height and climate conditions a wind scoop is positioned in a way that it can draw maximum amounts of fresh air through the scoop and down into the occupied space.  Thus providing cooling and increasing the comfort of its occupants.

Middle East

Wind towers have been around for thousands of years.  Beginning in the Middle East, wind towers or "wind catchers" provided temperature control to those living in the hot, dry climate of the Middle East.  Extremely popular in the city of Yazd, some of it's towers date back 2,000 years.  These tall towers reach high into the sky to pull the cooler breezes that prevail at higher altitudes.  Wind towers can be both bi-directional, and multi-directional.  Material wise they are mostly made out of thick ceramics with large insulation values. Timber poles are installed around the tower structure to allow for easy maintenance.  The picture to the left is that of The Badgir system at Yazd, a multi-tower system that functions today just as it did many years ago.  These tower structures can be found in Persia, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and further throughout the Middle East.