Axis Wakeboard Boat Forum

I am new to this forum. Thank you for letting me participate. I have a 2020 T22 and a perplexing issue. Twice in the last two weeks, while surfing (fully loaded bags, wedge down and gates out, LEFT side surf) my rudder has snapped off cleanly - and disappeared to the bottom obviously. The first time my son was driving and he said the steering became super tight, then released completely and he realized he'd lost all steering ability. Yesterday I was pulling a surfer (water over 20ft deep) and the wheel simply went free and I knew immediately I had no steering. Much to my disappointment I swam under and saw the rudder was gone again. In both cases there has been no damage to the prop and no indication something was hit. I was initially suspicious when my son reported the first time (he is 19 after all) but I had zero indication anything was wrong yesterday.
The dealer replaced the rudder the first time but not under warranty. I intend to make an issue this time and escalate this within Malibu because I cannot see any reason why this should happen under normal operating conditions, not to mention twice! I've not found any other instances of this on line yet - but I am curious if anyone is aware of this or has had a similar experience. Thanks in advance for any input. Attached photo's are from the first occurance.

There have been rudders that have sheered off in the past. I have not heard of many but I have heard it has happened. Two in such a short time might be a record! The dealer will square it away. Doesn’t sound like you are doing anything different than the rest of us.

Happened to me while surfing. 2015 T23. Dealer covered it all under warranty even though I was out of the warranty period. I was 15 miles out and had to steer back using a paddle while standing on the swimdeck. It turns out the boat goes pretty straight at about 13 mph.