Clipped the bottom at Clayton on my first run,saw the sky at one stage then collected the sail and board, broke the base 4 km walk back bruised heel for a couple of weeks....i think i was very lucky
Excellent advice and i did just that. Had a afternoon session at Rose Bay, There are a few really shallow spots so i had a good look around before i started plaining up and down, mindyou i still got caugh out once or twice, my fin now has a nice notch in it.
30+ knots at Rye, Victoria in king low tide. Fin hit and somehow I went flying feet first. Must have tough bones because I hit the sand feet first with legs straight. My toes got squished in my booties and the bootie heel was half way up my calf.
The shallow water catapult felt completely different to other ones. Feels faster and hittting the sand can do serious damage.
I can understand it would be a pain if they broke off too easily but if the system was easily fixed & spares cheap some sort of breakable tab etc sounds like a good way to ensure safety.
With a Tuttle box there are things you can do. A standard tuttle will rotate out of the box if the bolts are allowed to pull through the deck. The deep tuttle will do it too with an assiduous bit of grinding on the top half of the leading edge of the head.
You can also set them up with a break away bolt or cross nut on the front bolt. The back bolt has to bend or break I think but the back bolt is not really necessary and you can sail quite happily without it provided you have the usual snug fit that you get with a tuttle. I rigged one up a while back with a break away cross nut on the front and a tether where the back bolt should go. It was fine for sailing but I never actually whacked the bottom with that one. Its time I did something about it again because I have lost a couple of fins since then - power box.
Melville Water flat out in 20-30knots, low tide, missed the deeper section across the sand bar due to sun reflecting off the water.
Board stopped dead, I was catapulted upside down and somehow my left arm outstretched above my head hit the sand inches below the water and got bent back ripping some muscles in my shoulder.
I managed to windsurf back to shore with one arm and spent several months growing back the muscle tissue.
-Mart
, I had also catapulted but fortunately only brushed the rocky bottom 
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