When Freedom One Racing’s high-powered Skater went sky-high at the beginning of the racing season, it propelled the group’s charitable mission beyond what they could have dreamed.
by Randy Mason, with additional information by Nathan Bechtold
By now, you’ve probably seen the eye-popping footage. A power boat traveling over 200 miles per hour flips without warning, spins completely around in the air and plunges into Arizona’s Lake Havasu.
The custom-built Skater 388 in that viral video is America One, the pride and joy of the Freedom One Racing Team based in Kansas City.
Noah Olah, a Freedom One crew member, was following in the tow boat that fateful day.
“I had a mini heart-attack,” he recalls. “They hit the water at 170 miles an hour. Upside down.”
Michael Hledin, whose father Peter founded Skater Boats, was on the scene too. “I’ve never seen anything like it. It seemed like it went on forever.”
Miraculously, the boat’s drivers escaped without any life-threatening injuries, and the craft is expected to run again.
But even before their TikTok notoriety, the Freedom One team differed significantly from most of its counterparts.
Olah explains it this way…
“The boat is from a private investor. He wanted to stay anonymous and so did the drivers. We don’t do sponsorships or anything, because it’s not about the boat. It’s about what we’re doing, how we want to raise money for charity and how we want to give back. The boat is just a platform to do that.”
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