Strong winds originally forecast for Friday showed up in Lake Havasu City a day late.

David Bell/News-Herald Photo. Havasu racer Krissy Hale, left, fights through rough water that caused a bloody nose and loose teeth to hold on to position in women’s Pro Ski heat racing Saturday. The professionals take part in the final motos today, to name the 2008 champions at the International Jet Sports Boating Association World Finals at Crazy Horse Beach.

Winds that peaked at 26 miles per hour according to the city’s weather station made racing at the International Jet Sports Boating Association World Finals at Crazy Horse Beach a challenge Saturday.

“It was really rough out there,” said Krissy Hale, a racer who slits time between Lake Havasu City and Henderson, Nev. “When you see the best riders in the world floundering out there, you know it’s anybody’s race.”

Conditions were so bad at one point, that a swell caught Hale just under the mask of her helmet, the force of the water bloodying her nose and loosening three teeth.

“You can’t practice for this,” she said.

Hale was a assured of making it to her motos Sunday, so she took it easy in her heat race. That wasn’t the case for Brandon McMillan. The young racing phenom came out strong in his heat in Junior Ski Stock 13-15 and cruised to an easy victory, assuring him of the pole in today’s moto.

“It’s pretty awesome,” said fan Jackson Rod following McMillan’s race.

Helped by hefty weight of the GP Runabout class, Franky Zapata of France won both his motos to earn a word championship, beating out Sam Harvey of Auckland and Cesare Visrara of Serbia.

In GP Ski racing, Canada’s Mike Klippenstein continued his dominance, winning the title over Japan’s Hideyuki Kurahashi and Zapata.

Kuwait has a world title courtesy of Yousef Al-Abdulrazzaq’s racing in Runabout 800. On Saturday he defeated Mike Phenes of Ruther Glen, Va. and Claude Clayton of Tupelo, Miss.

The final world champion crowned Saturday came in the Sport Modified class. There, Shawn Quemada of Diamond Bar, Calif. nosed out Chaowalit Kaujaroon of Thailand and Blaine Spires of Minden, Nev. to take the crown.

The professional finals take place today, including the women’s Pro Ski class featuring Hale and Yuki Kurahashi, Hideyuki’s sister who now races out of Belgium.

“I think I can be in the top four,” said Yuki Kurahashi. The two-time European winner said she’s “confident going into the race.”

First motos scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. During the break the finals of the freestyle competition will take place, followed by the drag race finals, second motos and then the ramp jump competition.

Entry to the world finals is free, parking is $5.

You may contact the reporter at dbell@havasunews.com.