Speedboat's 200mph record attempt goes horribly wrong after being caught by gust of WIND on Arizona lake
A high-speed attempt to break records at the 2025 Desert Storm Shootout in Lake Havasu City, Arizona ended in a shocking crash — but remarkably, everyone walked away with only minor injuries.
Freedom One, a skater racing boat from Kansas City, Missouri, was flying down the course at over 200 mph on Saturday when trouble struck.
Wind gusts — reported to be around 30 mph — suddenly caught the vessel, sending it airborne in front of stunned spectators.
'We saw the race team proceed down the course, and they started out really well, nothing out of the ordinary,' Ray Lee, owner and publisher of Speedboat Magazine, told AZ Family.
'Then it was about halfway, three-quarters of the way down the course when we saw the nose start to lift.'
Video from the event shows Freedom One flipping multiple times before slamming back into the water.
The violent crash unfolded around noon, but somehow, both racers survived with only moderate injuries.
Freedom One Racing had set its sights on breaking records at the Desert Storm Shootout, an event where boats race solo to clock the highest speeds over a three-quarter-mile stretch.
'It's as fast as you can go in that three-quarter of a mile, and they have radar guns kind of throughout there, and one at the end, so you're really just racing against yourself,' explained Freedom One Racing Boat Tech Ryan Olah.
Olah said the boat was custom-built to handle extreme speeds: 'We built this boat to be a record breaker pretty much everywhere we go.'
Despite the harrowing crash, the mood among the Freedom One team was surprisingly upbeat.
'Today they've been in great spirits, joking around, a little bit sore and banged up, but for the most part they're happy,' said Olah.
One racer suffered a broken collarbone and injured ribs, while the other had a 'semi-fractured' knee, according to Olah.
The boat itself took a beating but is expected to be repaired.
'The boat can be fixed, it's all just parts and a little bit of time, so we were just glad that nobody had any major injuries,' he added.
Beyond their need for speed, Freedom One Racing is known for giving back to the communities where they compete.
Over the weekend, the team raised nearly $20,000 for local charities, even clinching the 'King of the Desert' title at the event — crash and all.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
22 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Wolfsburg sign Paul Simonis as new coach
A file picture dated 7 August 2010 shows the empty seats of the Wolfburg team players before the match against FC Everton in Wolfsburg, Germany. Jens Wolf/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa Wolfsburg have signed Paul Simonis as their new head coach, the Bundesliga club said in a statement on Thursday. Simonis joins from Dutch Cup champions Go Ahead Eagles and signed a contract until June 2027. Advertisement He replaces Daniel Bauer, who took over on an interim basis for the final two Bundesliga games of the season after Ralph Hasenhüttl was dismissed. "I'm really looking forward to working at a top level in a very strong and exciting league," Simonis said. Managing director for sport Peter Christiansen added: "It was an intensive process, at the end of which we opted for Paul Simonis. He fits our requirements profile perfectly." Wolfsburg start their pre-season training on July 9. Their first official game in the new season is the first round of the German Cup mid-August.
Daily Mail
22 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Air India crash live updates: Plane bound for London carrying 242 people crashes in Ahmedabad
An Air India flight heading to London has crashed in Ahmedabad with 242 people on board.
Daily Mail
22 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Kemi Badenoch blasts Nigel Farage's Reform over support for a burka ban saying enforcing it would be a waste of police time
Kemi Badenoch hit out at Reform MPs for backing a burka ban today, saying policing what people wear would be a waste of officers' time. The Opposition leader said that she was against women being forced to wear clothing against their wishes. But she suggested that Reform's support for a ban on the Islamic outfit - which covers the whole body, apart from a gauze veil over the eyes - was 'a policy without a plan'. At the weekend Ms Badenoch backed giving employers the right to insist staff wore clothing that showed their face at work. But speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning, she appeared to rule out going any further. She said that women should not 'be forced to wear things that their husbands and their community want', but added: 'Are we going to send police officers into people's homes to check if they are wearing the burka at a time when we cannot even keep prisoners in prison, (when) we are releasing them? 'Do we have space in prison to put people wearing the burka in? 'This is what I mean by people just saying things, announcing policies without plans.' The last week has seen Nigel Farage's party riven by a row over the idea of a burka ban. Chairman Zia Yusuf briefly quit after MP Sarah Pochin asked about it at Prime Minister's Questions last week. But other Reform MPs including Lee Anderson and Richard Tice have also backed a law telling women what they can and cannot wear. Ms Badenoch revealed at the weekend that she will not see anyone at surgeries in her North East Essex constituency if they have a face covering. And this morning she told Today that she had done so. British employers are able to set their own workplace dress codes, but could face legal challenges under equality law if they tell staff to remove religious clothing without demonstrating it is 'proportionate' and for a 'legitimate' aim, such as health and safety.
