National Champion Boat

Illustration of blue and white speedboat with red text. Surrounding boat, text is blue on white background with red outline.

Bill Muncey, a well regarded racer in the history of hydroplane racing overturned his Atlas Van Lines boat at the World Championship race in Acapulco, Mexico, and died on October 18, 1981. Bill drove the Atlas Van Lines boat known as the Blue Blaster from 1977 to 1981 winning 24 races and two championships in the Blue Blaster. Atlas Van Lines sponsored the boat in the 1970's and 1980's. After Bill's death, the Blue Blaster was preserved but was no longer sea worthy. In 2010, the Hydroplane and Race Boat Museum acquired the Blue Blaster and spent the next four years restoring it with the intention of returning it to the water and honoring Bill Muncey's memory. In the summer of 2014, the Blue Blaster returned to the water after it was newly christened by Muncey's wife, Fran, during Seattle's Seafair.