Hi Dale,
While having the inlet as deep as in your picture, you'll have a lot of water through your tubing (make sure the pressure won't blow them from your nipples), a speeding fountain might be the result..., it'll also add a lot of drag, slowing you down.
As the hole is already there, I suggest you raise the tube so only the slanted section peeks out, in combination with the propwash this should provide ample flow with the least amount of drag.
Tip: bend the tube inside the boat so the height the water has to rise before going to the ESC and motor is as little as possible, and you'll still have flow when you're crawling along.
If you want to be sure to have flow under all circumstances, put the outlet in the bottom to, but slanted towards the rear, creating suction when the boat moves.
I have this pressureless system in my fast electrics and in my scale boats, works like a charm.
I added two picture of the inlet and outlet on my 110 cm M.A.S., notice there's virtually nothing sticking out from under the hull.
Regards, Jan.