Hobie and Next Adventure provide excellent customer service

A few weeks ago my rudder assembly broke. The plastic pin didn't shear, but rather the full assembly broke right above the rudder. I ordered and installed a replacement, and then took one last look at the broken part before throwing it away. I noticed small bubbles in the plastic, so sent these photos to Hobie. They said the bubbles are not uncommon, but would warranty the part anyway. Next Adventure helped coordinate everything and gave me a credit since I had already installed the part I prematurely paid for. These are two great companies that I'll continue to support!

I agree whole heartedly!  Very similar experience with Hobie and Next Adventure on my bizarre broken pedal retainer. 

Hard to tell for sure as the picture isn't focused on the fractured face, but it looks like fatigue failure.  Possible stress corrosion cracking.  Either material or design defect either way. 

Hard to tell for sure as the picture isn't focused on the fractured face, but it looks like fatigue failure.  Possible stress corrosion cracking.  Either material or design defect either way. 

plastic can have corrosion?

That's really great to hear that both companies are working together to provide such good service.

Hard to tell for sure as the picture isn't focused on the fractured face, but it looks like fatigue failure.  Possible stress corrosion cracking.  Either material or design defect either way. 

plastic can have corrosion?

Looked like a metal bolt in the photo that broke.  If it's not then it's just a fatigue failure.

This is the plastic part of the rudder assembly and it broke just above the top row of bolts that holds the rudder to the assembly. If you look at a Hobie rudder you'll find the location pretty easily.

The rudder failure in the photo look like molding defects in the plastic material.  Improper temperatures during the mold flow can cause a material defect like this -- often times, a failure must occur before the defect is observed.  X-ray inspection during QA manufacturing can detect part defects like this, but that is dependent on sampling rates and the frequency of occurrence during the making of Hobie rudders.

I'm still a satisfied customer of Hobie - even though the design isn't perfect and parts have been known to fail.  Even critical propulsion parts like pedals and rudders.