What do you think of the idea of overboring the bolt hole, filling it with epoxy, and drilling the pivot bolt hole through the epoxy? Do you see a problem with that solution?
To the best of my knowledge all of the Potters that have ever been built (that had kick up rudders, any way) had the rudder components made of ½ inch plywood. Sooner or later these will break because the plys are weakened because of water leaking into them. With the P-14's/15's you are limited to ½ inch plywood because of the width of the fittings that go around the rudder head and that fit into the gudgeons--you can't even use 5/8 or 3/4 inch plywood to make it stronger. You COULD ust thicker plywood and rout a groove for the fitting, I guess...
Anyway, this is a real live design/materials problem that all Potter owners have, and as you said, the blessed thing is going to break at exactly the worst possible moment. It would be nice to a) have everyone aware of the problem and b) have a fix ready.
Regards
Tom Grimes
P-14 #363 Far Horizon
Muncie, Indiana