Sorry about your breakage.

[img]http://www.thebeachcats.com/images/articles/h18rudders/image003TN.jpg" align="left" vspace="5" hspace="6[/img]I had no end of trouble with the rudder system not kicking up on my '81, broke two castings and one transom before I finally replaced the whole thing with the new system. So I always tell people to upgrade if po$$ible, the upgrade package is expensive, but every time mine broke I lost vacation time or missed a regatta.

If you end up staying with the old system, here is a fix for the old system that allows manual release of the cams.
Quick Release System for Old-Style Hobie 18 Rudder System