A terrifying scene from Lake Havasu in Arizona.
The temperatures are heating up, which means people are heading to the lake to soak up the sun, drink some cold ones, and enjoy being on the water. However, early into this year’s lake season, there has always been a horrific wreck. Over the weekend, the Desert Storm Shootout event turned into a scary sight when a speedboat caught a gust of wind, flipping multiple times before landing back in the water.
Each year, Lake Havasu hosts the Desert Storm Shootout, where speedboat racers compete to set new high-speed records as they race around a 3/4-mile track, one at a time. The team with the fastest speed wins the event. This year, one racing duo was hoping to break the record for the fastest boat, aiming to reach 200 miles per hour.
“It’s a 388 skater, and it’s estimated at about 10,000 horsepower. So they came to Lake Havasu earlier in the week, intending to break the record here for the Desert Storm Shootout. That was their first pass of the day, and when they went over, the radar picked them up at 200.1 mph.”
Speedboat Magazine’s Ray Lee told Fox 10.
Freedom One Racing’s custom Skater catamaran was piloted by two drivers who have not yet been publicly identified. During their race on the track, they were on the path to reach their goal when wind caught the boat, leading the drivers to lose control, becoming airborne, and flipping multiple times before crashing back into the water.
The sight was horrifying, and many spectators told Fox 10 that they were holding their breath at the sight, praying the drivers were okay, which they thankfully were.
Jeff Clark, a shootout competitor, noted that when racing boats at this high speed, even the slightest factor could send the boat off course.
“At that speed, it doesn’t take much, you know, those tunnel holes are built to pack air so the boat rides on top of the water. You know it’s like on a rail, and if you pack up too much and that nose gets too high, it’ll just – at that speed – it’ll take you airborne.”
Because these boats are built for these high speeds, the cockpits are far more secure than your average speedboat, and given that these two men survived this crash, it shows that they are some of the best when it comes to building racing boats. Clark commended the Kansas City, Missouri, team for their engineering, which ultimately saved the drivers’ lives.
“Those guys are alive for one reason and one reason only. That boat was built not to come apart. So when they were sitting in that cockpit, and when you look at pictures of the boats, it’s totally destroyed, but the cockpit is in perfect condition.
I tip my hat to Skater and the crew that built that boat because it saved that guy’s life, it saved both of their lives, there’s no doubt about it.”
This horrific scene could have ended much worse. Check out the video of the crash captured by a Desert Storm Shootout attendee below.
