WATCH: Boat goes airborne, crashes at over 200 mph on Lake Havasu
The drivers were not seriously injured.
LAKE HAVASU CITY, AZ (AZFamily) — People are stunned after things took a dramatic turn at the 2025 Desert Storm Shootout boating event in Lake Havasu City on Saturday.
A speedboat attempting to break a record became caught up in windy conditions and went airborne before crashing down into the water.
“We saw the race team proceed down the course, and they started out really well, nothing out of the ordinary,” said Speedboat Magazine Owner & Publisher Ray Lee. “Then it was about halfway, three-quarters of the way down the course when we saw the nose start to lift.”
Around noon, the Freedom One skater racing boat flew into the air as the boaters were racing at over 200 mph in an attempt to break a record. Video footage shows the boat flipping several times before crashing down into the water. According to the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office, several deputies, rescue divers, and paramedics responded and found the boat partially sunken as two people tried to make their way out of the boat. Despite the severity of the crash, both people aboard the boat survived with only minor injuries as everyone was wearing their safety gear.
“This incident occurred on a closed course where there were rescue divers and safety personnel on standby. After the crash, event divers were on scene and in the water within 20 seconds, with public safety divers and personnel on scene seconds later,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement. “Due to this incident occurring on a closed course during a sanctioned event, no further investigation will be conducted.”
See inside the boat during the crash
“We built this boat to be a record breaker pretty much everywhere we go,” said Freedom One Racing boat tech Ryan Olah.
Freedom One Racing is based out of Kansas City, Missouri, and was at Lake Havasu over the weekend for the Desert Storm Shootout, a boat race where teams fly through the water one at a time to see who can go the fastest.
“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 Olah.
Arizona’s Family First Alert Weather team says wind gusts at Lake Havasu were reported to be around 30 mph at the time of the incident. Olah told Arizona’s Family one of the drivers suffered a broken collarbone and some banged-up ribs, while the other had a “semi-fractured” knee. The boat also suffered damage.
“Today they’ve been in great spirits, joking around, a little bit sore and banged up, but for the most part they’re happy,” says Olah. “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.”
Freedom One Racing also has a big focus on charity, raising money for local charities and organizations in the cities where they compete. In a post on social media on Sunday, Olah says the team donated nearly $20,000 following the Desert Storm Shootout, which saw them take home the “King of the Desert” title despite the crash.
WATCH: Viewer-submitted videos of the crash and aftermath
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