It's actually a pretty mild experience. I had a stay snap on my H-20 on a very wild and windy day. One minute we're screaming along with water blasting us when "boing," and the mast, slowly drifts into the water and boat drifts to a halt. Surprisingly, it's the least dangerous rig failure. There's no capsizing, nothing flies around and there's no loss of control. The boat simply stops.