By USA Daily Now 
Two speedboat racers are counting their blessings after a dramatic crash during a high-speed event at Lake Havasu, Arizona, on Saturday. The incident occurred as the duo attempted to break a 206-mph speed record during the Desert Storm Shugrue’s Shootout. Miraculously, both racers walked away unscathed despite their boat flipping and flying through the air before slamming back onto the water’s surface.
The terrifying moment was caught on video, showing the white 10,000-horsepower vessel cruising at breakneck speeds across the lake. The boat, accompanied by a helicopter equipped with a camera, appeared to skip across the surface before the front end tilted slightly. This caused the wind to lift the vessel entirely, sending it into a complete backflip.
The ordeal didn’t end there. The boat remained airborne, completing a near 360-degree horizontal rotation before the front corner caught the water, initiating another vertical flip. Spectators on the original video could be heard gasping in disbelief at the scene.
John Wayne and Clint Eastwood, the aliases used by the racers who are part of the Freedom One Racing team, were reportedly unharmed. According to Ray Lee of Speedboat Magazine, the team had aimed to set a new speed record during the event. “It’s a 388 Skater, and it’s estimated at about 10,000 horsepower,” Lee told FOX 10 Phoenix. “They came to Lake Havasu earlier in the week intending to break the record for the Desert Storm shootout. That was their first pass of the day, and the radar picked them up at 200.1 mph.”
Fellow racer Jeff Clark emphasized the dangers of such high-speed attempts. “The last thing you ever want to see is a crash, especially something as horrendous as that,” Clark said. “At that speed, it doesn’t take much. Those tunnels are built to pack air, so the boat rides on top of the water. If you pack up too much and that nose gets too high, it’ll just—at that speed—take you airborne.”
Lee and Clark both suggested that windy conditions may have contributed to the crash but also potentially aided the racers’ survival. “When the boat cut the wind, it caused the vessel to remain airborne longer than if there had not been any substantial wind,” Lee explained.
Clark credited the boat’s construction with saving the racers’ lives. “Those guys are alive for one reason and one reason only: That boat was built not to come apart,” he said. “When you look at pictures of the boat, 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 both of their lives—there’s no doubt about it.”
Lake Havasu has seen its share of tragedies, with 11 fatal racing crashes since 1963, according to Motorsport Memorial. The deadliest occurred in 2018 when three people died following a crash involving the aptly named boat Lickety Split.
Watch the shocking crash video [here](insert link to video).
**Sources:**
[FOX 10 Phoenix](insert link)
[Speedboat Magazine](insert link)
[Motorsport Memorial](insert link)