the engine and generator failures, leaks, etc., could be expected in a 2 week old boat - lots of stuff goes wrong as the teething problems are settled. However just on the face of it: the Alpha 42 is being offered for an introductory price of $395,000. A performance cat of that length with quality American build is well over $1M. For example an Atlantic 42. You cannot get from $1M to $0.4M without cheapening the structure and quality. Even a quality 42' production monohull costs significantly more than that, and cats are more expensive: much more laminate, bigger and more interior, two of nearly everything.

Regarding the rudder stock, mine was designed to meet worst cast expected loads with a 3x safety factor. I consider that adequate. Worst case was defined (by me) to be 15 knots surfing with rudder hard over stalled. Others involved in the project, including the NA, Edson, and Jefa estimated a considerably lower load - basically hull speed of 8.5 knots with rudder stalled (and forces go up by the square of speed). A cat has smaller rudders, meaning less area and length, but also is expected to operate at higher speeds. So if the same planform has half the depth, the area will be 1/4 - but at twice the speed the force on it will be the same.

On your 2" bar stocks, remember that the strength of a section is not linear, but rather the 3rd power of dimension. So while the 1.5" stock will bend at 11,500 in-lbs, a 2" bar will bend at 27,500 - about 2.5X the strength. The nonlinear relationship is why it is extreme folly to undersize these components. On the Alpha they could easily have gone to 2 or 2.5 inch thick walled tube, used the same amount of material at the same weight and cost, yet had a much stronger rudder. In my opinion the rudder stock should be dimensioned to fill the space between the skins - anything less is under built. It is quite clear from the Alpha rudder pictures that a much larger tube could have been used. This is the sort of engineering and construction that gives spade rudders a bad name.