I've found a good deal on an upper Bravo 1, I will be ordering the lower, but I was wondering what is the difference between the LWP, & HWP. My current Bravo 1 set-up has the lwp, but I have to be very careful when approaching the islands, with the LWP, it is real easy to start sucking up sand. I do have a strainer, & it's real good insurance, but...

Is there a benefit with one or the other? I'm thinking the HWP is the way to go, but I am looking for input on this...Thanks!

I'm only looking to go with the Bravo 1 set-up for another season. If I decide to keep this boat, I will be upgrading to an XR, or an IMCO.

Dual water pickups are pretty much the best overall setup.

I've been wondering this as well , and am surprised that it is not brought up more often. I lost both motors on my second or third run out with my boat. And had several other close calls.
Just last week a friend that just bought a powerquest , did the same thing , sucked up a bunch of mud ,and in turn almost overheating.
I just bought two 500 efi's and do not want to chance sucking up sand into those. So the question is , Sea strainers or high water pickups?

Transom Pickups with strainers.
MY 2¢

Regardless of the type and placement of pickups... Sea-strainers are a must!

Chris

I've got the LWP-only on my new-to-me boat and really don't like the design. Just curious what advantages (if any) there are to the LWP design?

LWP only are needed for boats with high X dimensions. Standard and DWP's can tend to suck in air with high X dimesions and cause cooling problems, especially when trimmed up.

As far as hull pick ups, mine would be about the same hieght as a normal LWP drive intake. I sucked up a bunch of sand and mud 2 years ago.

So are you suggesting that since the boat came with LWP, I should go back with that, or look for one with DWP (I forgot they offered them with dual)?
I don't think my Sonic has a high X-dim, but I don't really know what is considered high.

I learned that the hard way...My first year owning the boat, I ran up on some sand, packed the water lines full, overheated the engine, & blew a head gasket...
I NOW HAVE A HARDIN SEA STRAINER!!!
It does a very good job, & it's a great piece of mind, but if I can go with a drive with HWP, or even DWP, I will be even happier.

I see the risk with HWP, but do you really think that also applies to DWP?
I have DWP on my leg, with a rather aggressive X dim (19"), but even at WOT, with the drive trimmed out at 5 or so, the water pressure steadily exceeds 25 PSI.
I would have thought that the tremendous water pressure on the LWP, being it just in front of the nose, should more than compensate the risk of sucking air from the HWP...