I recently mounted a windlass on the CD 25. I put it far enough foreward to allow one inch between the foredeck cleat and the aft end of the windlass. This positioned the hole about in the center (fore and aft) of the top of the anchor locker. I ground down the nonskid, to be level with the smooth gel coat in the center. I cut the 3" hole, then routed out about 1/4" of balsa core--filled this with epoxy and high density filler, to seal the deck core. Each bolt for the windlass was drilled out oversize, and then filled with epoxy around the edges, and the hole redrilled to size to be snug for the windlass. I did the same for the holes for the wiring. There would be some advantage to increasing the height of the hole where the chain goes thru the deck--but with a tight gasket and bedding, it is water tight up to the edges of the SS rim. -