Sorry to hear about your experience and yup, I have experienced the same problem one two separate occasions (2 cracked hulls - both replaced by Hobie bless them!).
The only realistic answer is to have a good feel for how your boat is performing on the water and/or check via the centre hatch for the presence of water in the hull so that you can detect a leak before you become totally swamped.
And the only way out of the situation if it happens to you (apart from having a handy rescue helicopter on call) is to be able to make it to shore and/or to carry some means of removing water from inside the hull. Personally I carry a sponge for bailing - but an appropriate bilge pump set up would also work. I also carry a toolbox which in extremis could be put to use as a bailer.
If you intend to go out on the sea or lake you have to take at least some responsibility for your own safety because sh*t happens and when it does, even if rescue services, either official or ad-hoc, are available, you may not be able to alert them and/or they may not be able to respond to you. So you need to be able to be self reliant in getting yourself out of a scrape.
I read a lot about yachting and boating and there is a lot of information about how to avoid a trip turning into a drama turning into a crisis. Some of the information that has helped me is reading about the causes of rescues and about the lessons learned from various marine disasters - the book Total Loss (see
http://www.amazon.com/Total-Loss-Collection-First-hand-Accounts/dp/1574091468 is a gripping read and very informative when it comes to the lessons learned and the things you should ensure you have on board and about your person. Some of the lessons only really apply to yachts (e.g. always have bolt cutters on board so that you can cut free a broken mast and rigging before they smash the side of your boat in) but others apply to any and every small boat/sailor (e.g. carry a bailer; each crewman should have a knife attached to him by a lanyard - so that he can cut himself free from ropes; etc; etc). The book is well worth a read!
Sorry, I didn't intend this to end up as a lecture: just thought that I would mention my experience and point out that there are some things you should never leave shore without and if you want to find out what these are then there's plenty of information out there to call upon.