Royd, I have made your same complaint ("why are we beta testers?") 5-6 years ago when I first bought my AI. I think there was some truth to it then. Today, I think the AI is a mature product. Interestingly, I don't think any of the AIs in this year's race experience either the drive failure or the mast step failure. To my knowledge, the AIs generally have not had mast step breakage of this type. The breakage seems to be occurring in the Tandems with their larger sail. Also, remember, there were about twice as many tandems, and half of those were 2-person teams (twice the drives) as AIs. Therefore, there was much more "chance" for things to break on Tandems.
I do not make excuses for Hobie. Nor am I a "The AI/TI is perfect" type owner. I think if a product is on the market it ought to work as advertised. Having said that, I have to go back to the old adage: "the EC is a pressure cooker for the Islands." I think it is a fact that the more moving parts you have the greater chance of one of those parts breaking—kind of a Murphy Law.
I also think that more Mirage Drive shafts were broken this year because winds were relatively light at times. These conditions caused more dependence on the Mirage Drive and more stress on the Mirage Drive.
Regarding the mast step breaking, that may be due to an earlier design in the Tandems which, I believe, has been replaced by Hobie. There have been discussions on the Hobie forum of the problem, and Hobie's free fix. Even reliable-line car makers make recalls from time to time. I guess if you really don't want anything to break, the Kruger* might be your best choice. However, we don’t own Krugers. Therefore, I believe in holding Hobie's feet to the fire. These boats can be more reliable. Given how AI/TIs are used around the world—frequently in extreme conditions—Hobie should design them for that use. It may cost more.
The mast step breaking, old design, seemed to be a matter of design and fatigue due to use. It has been redesigned, but I don't know when all the TIs with the old design were off the dealer shelves. Of course, if a person bought a used boat, they might encounter the problem.
Keith
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*When Krugers are outfitted with a Balogh sail and outriggers, there are failures also. I only noticed one such system at the start this year. Given the price point, I believe people are buying Hobie AI/TI rather than Kruger/Balogh systems.