I think ive narrowed the controller down to a Teleflex CH2200. I haven't had a chance to remove the controller from the boat but I think Ive found a used replacement on ebay.
Basically when I sand locked the gate, I only had reverse and panicked trying to unstick it and the rear upper ear holding the directional cable snapped loose. After getting the bucket unstuck (small rock seriously jammed) I had to zip tie the crap out of the cables to get back to the marina.
Needless to say my first trip on the lake with my jet was quite a learning experience...