Speedboat somersaults at 321km/h, drivers escape with minor injuries

The boat took to the air. Photo / @freedomone_racing

• A speedboat crashed while attempting to break the 331km/h record on Lake Havasu.
• Drivers John Wayne and Clint Eastwood reached 321km/h before losing control and somersaulting.
• Both walked away with minor injuries; fellow competitor Jeff Clark praised the boat’s safety.

A speedboat attempting to break a record lost control and somersaulted through the air before crashing into the water.

The drivers, using the pseudonyms John Wayne and Clint Eastwood, had been attempting to break the 331km/h record on Lake Havasu, Arizona.

But disaster struck when their Skater 388 lost control and sailed through the air in front of horrified spectators of the Desert Storm Shootout on Saturday.

Both drivers walked away from the crash with minor injuries, the New York Post reported.

The boat took to the air. Photo / @freedomone_racing

Footage from inside the cockpit showed the moment the pair, wearing just shorts and T-shirts with protective headgear, launched their vessel at the start of their run.

As speed gathers, the boat begins to rock violently before a second later, the pair pull the throttle back and brace for impact, tucking their chins into their chests.

“My heart dropped when I saw that boat get airborne. It’s never something you want to look at when you’re out having fun as a driver for sure,” fellow competitor Jeff Clark told FOX10.

“I tip my hat to … 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.”

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Ray Lee, of Speedboat Magazine, said the pair had clocked 321km/h when they took flight.

“Best-case scenario, because of the wind, when the boat cut it, it held it up there longer than had there not been such substantial wind,” he added.