Boat Racing Legend Bill Seebold Dies At Age 84

Multi-time world champion tunnel-boat racer Bill Seebold died October 22 from complications from ALS. He was 84 years old.

Known as Billy or Mr. Bill, Seebold is widely considered the greatest tunnel-boat racer of all time and is a strong candidate for powerboat racing’s Mount Rushmore. The eight-time world Formula 1 tunnel boat world champion won his first APBA national championship when he was 17 years old.

“If you look at all the different forms of boat racing and you look at the one that requires the most skill to drive, it’s a Formula 1 tunnel boat,” said Mark Spencer, former editor of Powerboat magazine who covered Seebold and tunnel-boat racing. “Of all the people who’ve raced those boats, Bill Seebold is the GOAT.”

Born February 23, 1941, in Fenton, Mo., Seebold won his first American Power Boat Association national points championship at 17 years old. He won his first race at 11 years old and during his 46-year career, Seebold amassed more than 900 victories and 69 world and national championships. He hung up his orange helmet following the 1997 season at the age of 57 after he won the PROP Tour Formula One championship

Seebold’s eight world championships in international Formula One boat remain unmatched. He earned North American championships in 1989, 1993, 1994 and 1997 and won the annual St. Louis Grand Prix, considered the Indy 500 of tunnel-boat racing, seven times...

...Continue reading about Seebold's life and unmatched racing career, at SpeedOnTheWater.com