Sheared a rudder post off and other problems

Was out sailing the other day when suddenly I look back and a rudder is dragging in the water on its side....hadn't hit anything that I was aware of.

When we came home and took the lower bracket off to replace it I found the following under the bracket....

Our boat is a 2006 Getaway...is this crack a problem and if it is, is it under warranty?

If it isn't under warranty...can we still sail like this?

The Getaway is very thick back there, I'd say over an inch. I'd be surprised if the crack went over a 16th of an inch into the plastic. Does the transom flex at all when force is applied?

If the answer is no, here's what I would do:

Pressurize the hull and see if you can get any bubbles out of the crack.

If you do get bubbles then you'll have to reassess. If the answer is no flex and no bubbles, I'd say reattach the pintle and sail.

There is no substitute for seeing the boat in person, so talk to your dealer and see if they can help.

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Sail Revolution
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thanks for the reply..dealer will be seeing it tomorrow.....I'll try to stick a needle or something in there to see if it goes all the way through...also we'll try to pressurize it.

Turns out it is a crack and not just a scratch.

I always worried about breaking out one of the rudder mounts like that, some times when I come into shore the boat starts backing up before I can jump off and hold her head into the wind and I figure one of these days its going to rip off the rudder. Would it be possible to sandwich a 1/8" SS plate on both sides of the transom and then mount the rudder mount on the plate? To bad it didn't have a fail-safe that broke before ripping the screws out of the transom like that.

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06 getaway -- always remember, man with both feet in mouth have no leg to stand on.

That crack is not likely going to effect the strength of the rudder hardware. The metal parts you see bedded in the plastic are all attached in one big fixture (upper and lower) and surrounded by plastic.

If you are very concerned, you can cut an access port and seee from the inside.

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)