ATEX:
Let me set your mind at ease, if you are getting your information from this forum, the actual number of failures is magnified 100 fold, nobody is going to write about it if their rudder didn't fail.
I don't think anyone has broken more rudder pins and AKA sheer bolts than me, but my TI is massively modified and I push my TI way beyond it's design specifications, and take it offshore sometimes in conditions it was never designed for.
First off the rudder pins never break willy nilly for no apparent reason while your just out sailing minding your own business, it just doesn't happen, the pin is much stronger than that even in fairly adverse conditions.
I have broken literally dozens of rudder pin, and 99% of all my failures were all self imposed. Typically I'm not careful enough during launch or retrieval, or as I'm passing of a coral head or sand bar. The damage may not be immediate, and you likely don't even notice a problem besides the steering being just a little harder. This is an indicator than the rudder pin has broken either at the bottom or at the top, and is half broken. Now it's a ticking time bomb, the very next time you do a suicide jibe at high speed, or crank the rudder hard to do a tack, the rudder breaks the rest of the way. Yea you are miles from shore with nothing within miles of you at the time it breaks so you blame Hobie for a weak rudder design, but the real damage was done when you backed up at the dock with the rudder down possibly two outings ago, you just didn't know it at the time, we all feel the bump and pull the rudder up saying oops shouldn't have done that, but likely the damage is already done ( a ticking time bomb). Some of the guys like Tom Kirkman replace their rudder pins and AKA nylon sheer bolts on a regular basis, because all that stuff does wear over time.
On the AKA sheer bolts I did a test in my garage with a fish scale. On the first attempt if I remember correctly it took about 150 lbs of jerking force to sheer the aka sheer bolt. But if I put 100 lbs of jerking force on the same sheer bolt it survived 3 hits bit failed on the forth. I think it was around six or seven 75 lb hits/jerks to failure and so on.
Even after five or six 50 lbs hits if you take the sheer pin out it's bent and deformed.
Thats all well and fine, however the last thing you want to do is take that plastic pin out and replace it with a steel pin. If you do that, it only takes about 200 lbs force to fold and destroy the AKA bar, or sheer of the ball standing up on the hull (either takes about the same force) , or worse yet rip the hull around the area where the little ball sits. None of those are recoverable, and all those parts are very expensive.
I am a Design Engineer by profession (my day job) a I tested all that stuff myself just for my own information and knowledge to see if I'm putting my own life at risk.
Same applies with the rudder. If you replace the rudder pin with a steel pin, the next thing to go is the rudder gudgeon that holds the rudder to the hull, or you rip the bolts out of the hull, or worse yet rip the back of the boat off. None of that stuff is recoverable either, and very expensive to fix if it can be fixed.
Replacing the rudder pin out on the water is simple, just reach back slip the broken one out and slip the new one in, and your back to sailing in a couple minutes, it's not hard to do, I always carry spares.
If you do a search on this forum for AKA safety lines, you will find a wealth of fixes and knowledge. The simplest is just a piece of 3/16 nylon rope permanently attached to the boat, just a one time mod that takes 5 minutes to install yourself and costs about a buck. I've had my lines and clips on my boat for 6 yrs now (same lines and same clips), when not using them I just stuff the clips in the mesh pocket for storage, takes all of 30 seconds to just clip the clip on when setting the boat up, and thats it.
Here is a pic of my AKA safety line, most of us offshore guys have those installed on our boats, just a little extra insurance.
You can do the same with your rudder, adding spectra safety lines to the rudder does exactly the same thing, even if the rudder pin breaks, you can still sail home.
Here is a pic of that mod (the thin grey lines in the picture wrapped around the rudder pin, there is one at the top and another little loop at the bottom wrapped around the rudder gudgeon. Just ignore all the other crap in the pic, that's just what my modded TI looks like. On yours you can just as easily tie the safety string to the cleats that hold the rudder bungy on at the back of the boat. That grey line is Hobie rudder line (what we call spectra), it around 500 lbs break, and zero stretch, and lasts literally forever.
I wouldn't be afraid of the design, it is actually brilliant. Under normal use by 99% of the people out there this stuff never breaks, and is not a big deal, it's only crazys like me who hot dog out offshore blasting thru 3-4 ft rough seas at 15 plus mph where the stuff begins to break down.
Hope this sets your mind at ease, keep in mind on this forum people only post the bad stuff, not the 99% of happy users.
Hope this helps
FE