carb spacer to intake gasket issues

Hi All,   I had an issue with my boat a couple of weekends ago, and I wondered if the issue involves some user error, or if you all have found a better fix?

My boat is a 94, 351, carbureted.   I have an Edelbrock RPM intake, and am running a 1" factory spacer between the intake and the carb. My spacer has a flat surface on one side, and is only an "outline" of the 4 hole cloverleaf, and a perimeter outline on the other.   The runnability issue was a vacuum leak caused by gasket failure between the intake and the spacer.   the spacer to carb gasket was fine.,.     

My solution to the problem was to replace one paper gasket with a new paper gasket, and now the boat runs great again.     With the current gasket only having about 25 hours of run time on it before failing, I wonder if I have installed the spacer upside down ?        I have put the "outline" side down on the intake, and the full surface against the carburetor base.    

My other thought was that maybe a heavier duty rubber style gasket might be a better solution so that the thin perimeter sealing surface of the spacer might have a more robust gasket to withstand all the vacuum that happens in the intake. Anyone done this?
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I've used the plate in the link with Edelbrock manifolds and Holley carburetors.

A couple reasons I've used these are that they work and they're cheap   

Use a couple of gaskets like what Ski Dim sells or some that match the shape of the plate or in other words are the same as the plate.

I also ditched the 1 inch spacer plate when using the Edelbrock manifold and plumbed the PCV fitting into an intake runner fitting on the back of the manifold.

And.......since somebody is bound to ask, it had no effect on mixture to the cylinders fed by that runner

link

Also if you keep the spacer, you have it installed the right way as you described .

The one in my link a post or two back will work or the one in your picture will too

Plate worked great :)   thanks guys!

Kris