Mast hitting the ground f

I recently purchased a Hobie 18 and experienced the dreaded fall of the mast onto the cement from its fully mounted position. The only visable damage that occured was the Mama Bob rod bent. I examined the rivets, the comp tip, checked to see if the mast was bent and everything seems fine. Is this a fluke or are these masts that tolerant. Since then we have made changes to our take down procedures, so I don't expect this tragedy to occur again. Just wondering if others have ever had this happen and whether it is not uncommon to have the mast survive without major damage.

Thanks

I dropped my H18 mast as well onto the dock unitenionally and it suffered no damage except the wind indicator got killed. Not supprised your rig survived intact. Ryan

The masts are really tough - but it depends on how they land. I dropped my 17's mast one too many times and the Comptip cracked at the very end which allowed the head fitting to break loose.

Not the end of the world - I repaired it easily - but carefully inspecting the area where the mast made contact with the ground is a good idea.

I have seen sailors drop a lot of hobie masts at our lake in the past 30 years. I remember a concussion, a broken collar bone, two broken arms, and two week old car with the most perfectly centered crease in it's roof, that it almost looked like an intentional body modification.
I've dropped mine twice. the worst that happened was that I bent the mast hook on my 18 a little bit. It staightened easily with a crescent wrench.
I am responding only because I want to make the point that the masts are almost bulletproof. People's body's are extremely frail...I tell everyone who will listen NOT TO STAND UNDER THE MAST WAITING TO CATCH IT AS IT COMES DOWN. Stand to the side and only walk in to grab it only after it's completely down and under control
If something goes wrong let the stupid mast hit the ground. The mast will sometimes come 3/4 of the way down and seem like it's under control with no step pin in place. People drop their guard and bam.

Thanks for the feedback-it quiets my concern that I should be finding damage and it also reminds me not to kill myself from preventing the impulse to catch it-I actually thought I could. Stupid, I know. A checklist with prompts is there to remind me and others what I should be doing and it what order. After a long day of being on the water, it can prevent rushing and not focusing.