I have a pretty new boat, with a really old rudder system (came off an old Wave, so they weren't ancient). It does not (yet) have the Miracle-style connectors, and it is a pain to manage without them (installing, removing, storage). That will be my next upgrade.

The old castings fit just fine on the new pintles. Those pintles are a MAJOR pain to remove, and not cheap to replace, so don't bother. All you need to do is add a spacer between the top of the casting and the keeper pin hole. I use some wooden drawer pulls from Home Depot, drilled out and shaved down to size. Works great.

For the Madcatter this year, I finally installed my new rudders. These were white racing rudders from a H16, which were bought as spares jest before the new EPOs hit the market, but were never used. The H16 holes were filled with Marine Tex, and the rudders were redrilled to H17 specs. This worked much, much better than the old plastic ones that came with the castings (which weren't even the same color).

I added a tiller last year, and I am having a love/hate relationship with that. Takes me 3-4 races before I remember not to try to throw it around the back like on the H16. That does not make for good tacks...

Anyway, I learned most of what I know about these rudders from Jim Glanden (and quite a bit of sailing tips from Mimi). I hope this shared info helps. Let us know how you make out.

Mike