I had a similar issue with my Quickblade Trifecta. The paddle blade broke at the end of the shaft. This appears to be a weak point, but Quickblade refused to accept it as a defect and suggested I must have damaged the paddle at the location of the break. It seems a little coincidental that the failure occurred exactly at the end of the shaft's insertion point into the blade where the two are bonded. Has anyone else had this occur? I paddle in a variety of conditions including extreme downwinders and reliability is very important. I have another Trifecta, but now worry about the quality. Could a new blade be put on then wrapped with carbon to improve this apparent weakness? I'm considering switching brands due to the lack of support. Any word on the Black Project paddles durability? Werner, KeNalu or others?