Bad weather causes headaches at boat races

Bad weather caused delays and headaches at the 3rd Annual Michigan City Great Lakes Grand Prix on Sunday.

Choppy waters tossed the speed boats all over the lake.  One race team crashed in the water.

"It's like somebody has got a sledge hammer on the bottom of the boat, and you're driving along, and it's just whacking," said Marc Granite, a speedboat driver.

Lake Michigan did not give racers a very warm welcome.  High waves hurled speed boats out of the water on into the air.

"Very choppy!  Boats are in the water as much as they're out of the water!" said Rod Shumaker, another speedboat driver.

Spectators say this race was more like an airshow!

"We went up alot.  It was rough out so we were flying all over the place."

Miss Geico got launched out of the water.  Driver Marc Granite and throttle man Greg Begovich had a rough landing.

"It was like somebody picked up your car 15 to 20 feet and just dropped it.  That was the feeling of what it felt like."

At 120 miles an hour, the two men and the $2 million boat shot straight up in the air at the far end of the lake and started to skid on top of the water.  Then, the boat crashed back down into the waves.  On impact, the hull broke apart.

"That's the worst mishap we've ever had in our careers and it happened out here in Lake Michigan, so yeah, it's pretty bad," said Begovich.

The racing duo says they underestimated the lake.  The Miss Geico team says no one thought the waters would be so rough.  They still can't believe it pushed them so high in the air, so they've found something or someone else to blame.

"Guys are all talking about some kind of sea monster out there in Lake Michigan that strikes out every once in awhile.  Shirley, I don't know, something like that.  Anyway, we found it!"