When Bill Muncey purchased the Pay 'n Pak team from Dave Heerensperger after the 1975 season, included in the package was an unfinished boat that was taking shape in Norm Berg’s shop near Tacoma.
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| Bill Muncey and the Atlas Van Lines during a test run in 1977. |
It was a project that Heerensperger and Lucero started almost a year earlier, a craft that would take advantage of some of the lessons they had learned while running the Winged Wonder. It would be more streamlined, have a deeply cut pickle-fork bow, a low wing in the back, and the cockpit in the front.
Muncey would finally introduce the craft in 1977 and it would be forever known as “Blue Blaster” Atlas Van Lines. In five seasons of racing, it would win a total of 24 races, including three Gold Cups, and two national championships.