Sportmaster Low Water Pickups
 

The 39 Cigarette I just bought has -2 sportmasters. I was told by the current owner, that you can only trim up a little bit, or you will loose water pressure and burn up the impellers. I've read that you can hone out the pickup holes for better water pressure. Has anyone done this, and if so, can you explain exactly what needs to be done?

Thanks

That’s an odd situation. I’ve run a couple 38’s with sport master lowers and never seen that.
also my 39 o/l has them and the drives are 1” above the bottom without that issue.
I do know when I tried a pair of imco lowers on it, the water pressure went through the roof.

I did some searching on here and read others have had this issue as well. It seems its limited to the 600 SCI package. My guess is, feeding both the intercooler and engine, is a bit much for the stock pickups with a high X. I was talking to Offshore Cowboy about props, as he used to have a 39 Cigarette. He too told me to either bore out the pickup holes or add water pickups on the transom. I believe he had the same issue with his 39.

I haven't had the boat in the water yet, to find out myself. But I was specifically told, to not over trim, as you will burn up your impeller instantly. On my AT, the boat didn't like anything over neutral trim, no clue what this boat likes.