The centerboard brake can be epoxied in place and it will work better and last longer. Draw aroud it , mask, sand, thicken the epoxy, glue and gently locate, remove excess epoxy, tape down, let set until fully cured. Replace strap, perhaps put hiking strap under both brake strap and mainsheet block strap. Measure from the back of the notch to the top of the forward end of the trunk. I think it is less than 16 " I would measure mine but I am sitting here writing this and it would require a trip outside in the dark. You can measure some different boats to get a range. Most of the time the old holes have to be filled anyway to get it far enough forward. If it turns out you overdid it and put it too far forward you can shave a little off with a sharp knife. I got into the habit of using my foot monkey style to kick the board down after I noticed Steve doing this. I use my hand to put it down when it kicks up only in light air and . When sailing with Dan and Andy the other day I noticed that my rudder was wobbly and loose, the rivets holding the pintles, the blade was not tight( I have had cracked pintles, too so check this.) I am not using this as an excuse, because they were kind of kicking my butt. I am working harder at looking more at the big picture wave wise downwind instead of focussing on the immediate waves in front of my boat, and really working on keeping flat so I can maneouver. When changing the gudgeons it is likely that some of the screw holes will be stripped. To repair this clean all the old silicone and sealant, don't be bashful. Chop some glass fibers 1/4 inch long or so and mix with epoxy, stuff in the hole with a toothpick or whatever and let cure. Razor the excess off flush when it gets semi hard like cheese. Use a non stripped hole to help you figure out the right size pilot drill to use. 5200 and Sika take a while to cure, so do this when you can leave your boat set for a while. Generally avoid silicone as it is selective about what it bonds to. If you use this method of filling holes beware that some of the other fittings are backed with plywood and may take a while to dry out before epoxy is used. Epoxy is not very sensitive to moisture and will be the choice for this kind of work as opposed to polyesther which will have very unpredictable results with moisture present. Dennis Clark