question about leash plug

[Neki]

My wife just got a Laird 12'1, 2or 3 yr old model, I dont know much about leash plugs, but this is just a 1/4 " hole straight through the board coming out through the rear of the fin box. Is this right? Should there be a sleeve protecting the eps core & glass layers? It looks very exposed. I probed around with a chopstick it feels pretty hard...

[PonoBill]

That's kind of old school, and I haven't seen a laird done like that in my recollection, but there's nothing really wrong with it. You run a loop of downhaul line through the hole and tie a figure eight knot in the end and pull it up into the fin box. Simple and strong.