gougeon 35 trimaran

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Gougeon’s Everlasting Experiment

• By Dave Reed
• Updated: October 6, 2020

It’s a December night in 2015, and Matt Scharl is restless in the “guest room” set up for him in an office inside Gougeon Brothers boat shop on the bank of the Saginaw River in Bay City, Michigan. Out on the shop floor is the unmistakable white trimaran Adagio , designed and built in 1969 by the Gougeon ­brothers, Meade and Jan.

Earlier in the day, Scharl stood alongside Meade and Gougeon Brothers’ president and CEO, Alan Gurski, assessing Adagio ’s winter worklist. Meade’s primary concern was a 3-foot section of track that kept separating from the mast. Now, late at night and alone, Scharl can’t resist “popping a few screws,” and before long, he’s extracted the entire track. When he finally stops, the track is on the shop floor among chunks of epoxy and bits of wire.

“It’s wasn’t what they had in mind,” Scharl says, recounting the story with a chuckle, “but I did it anyway.”

He finally turned in at 3 a.m., and when he heard voices inside the shop a few hours later, he got up and walked out to the boat to find Gurski and Gougeon bewildered. “With my toothbrush hanging from my mouth,” he says, “I lean in between them and say: “Huh. That was on there when I went to bed.”

That night was the beginning of a transformation for Adagio , the most legendary craft among the tight-knit Great Lakes multihull crowd. Over 50 years of racing this unique and experimental trimaran, the Gougeons amassed a trove of trophies and accolades, but with Meade’s health declining in the years before his passing in 2017, he had handed the responsibility to son Ben and son-in-law Gurski, both of whom seized the opportunity to ensure that the boat remained competitive. Work on boats is what they do at Gougeon, especially in the winter, and they were honored to continue Meade’s great experiment.

“I knew then the boat was famous and unique and had quite a history to it,” Gurski says. “That being said, she was getting old and showing her age. Meade had a philosophy that the boat needed to last only as long as he would last. As he got older, some things on the boat went undone—or got done quickly for another day of sailing.”

For Ben Gougeon, one of 10 children, the boat was never really more than another vessel used for family outings and weeknight races in the ­once-thriving Bay City racing scene. As a kid, he says, he was more or less ballast. “Sailing came so naturally to my father, it was hard for him to teach others how to sail. It was more like, pull on that red line until I tell you to stop,” Gougeon says. “At the time, I never appreciated her for what she was. To me, as a kid, it was normal. I didn’t realize the vast differences between Adagio and all the other multihulls.”

Nor did he realize how fast the boat was, and still is today: “It used to drive me crazy because whenever we’d finish a race, my dad would hove to, and we’d sit there and wait for every boat to finish. We’d be around the course in like 20 minutes and then wait for what felt like hours. It wasn’t that he wanted to show everyone that he’d won; he was too humble for that. He just thought it was customary to wait for all the boats to come in, and that’s what he would do. He would talk to people as they came by and congratulate them on a good race and that kind of thing.”

Only once Gougeon, who now works for the company, and Gurski, who also considers himself a late-comer to competitive sailing, started learning how to sail the boat under the tutelage of the Gougeon brothers did they realize what they’d been bestowed. “We fell in love with it,” Gurski says. “Then came the caretaking part of it, which comes from building a relationship with the boat, sailing it and racing. It’s like your dad’s old Chevy; you develop an affection for it, and then find yourself spending an inordinate amount of time maintaining and repairing it. Part of what makes us unique as a crew—and as a family, and us as a company—is that we really like to work with our hands. It’s therapy for us in the boat shop; it keeps us closer to our customers, using our products to constantly maintain and repair our own boats.”

Initially they didn’t really know what the boat needed, but by the second season, they started to have a long-term vision of what its restoration would look like over the next 10 years, being realistic about what was most important—and ­having the budget to do it right.

“For example, a few years ago, a crack developed in the centerboard trunk, and every time we went over a wave, the boat would fill up with water,” Gurski says. “That winter’s job was to tear the boat in half, tear out the centerboard trunk, and then put it back in. That wasn’t fun.”

It was Meade who eventually enlisted Scharl to assist his son and Gurski himself with updating and racing the boat. “He said he was getting too old to sail Adagio , and he asked me to come to Bay City to help with the boat,” Scharl says. “I said, ‘Sure, but I’d like to sail it once to get an idea of what is involved.’ What I realized right away was that her sails were unforgiving, the lead positions were not optimal, and the hardware was aging on the boat.”

So began Adagio ’s transformation at the hands of Gougeon, Gurski and Scharl.

“Over the years, Meade would try stuff, put it on the boat, but then never take it off if it didn’t work. There was a lot of unnecessary stuff on the boat,” Scharl says. “So the primary thing was to simplify it and get a good set of modern sails. It was about making the boat easier to sail. It weighs only 2,600 pounds to begin with, so there wasn’t much room to take much weight out.”

Roughly 300 hours of labor went into the boat in the first year, 200 the next, and by the third, the work list was much smaller. That was when they finally added a traveler, engineered by Gurski and built in-house by the company’s craftsmen. “We had to do quite a bit of reinforcing to support the traveler on the transom,” Gougeon says. “It’s sort of odd the way it’s laid out because there’s a back cabin with a hatch. The traveler currently sits over that hatch, but no one goes back there anyway. It has made a huge difference on the boat. Before, we’d be blowing the sails in the gusts and have to reset them. The traveler greatly ­simplified the sailing of the boat.”

Adagio ’s sail number is E5, Gurski explains. The E stands for experiment: “ Adagio is Meade’s fifth experiment in boat design and construction, so I like to say there were four failures before it. It took until 1969 to get to Meade’s E5. And it just so happens that Adagio , for what she’s built do to—which is light-air sailing in the Great Lakes—holds true. She’s a light-air machine, and when it’s 8 to 10 knots, any boat in any fleet can’t hold up to her. We could make her stronger, sure, but we’d be hard-pressed to build her stronger at the same weight, or lighter. He got it right, so why change a good thing?”

Gougeon says his father was never really attached to any one particular idea, and that’s why the boat was forever evolving: “He was all for making changes for a tenth more speed and open to any changes that might allow for that. He would try to reduce the weight to make something work better, pushing it lighter and lighter until it broke, and then he’d go back to that point so it didn’t break again.”

Today, not much of his father’s tinkering remains, Gougeon says. Most of the original tiller is there, but ­everything’s been pretty much replaced on the boat, except the main center hull.

Scharl says Adagio is now close to perfect. “It’s crazy how fast the boat is,” he says, “but the number one thing is how quiet it is. It doesn’t make any noise going through the water. Up to 18 knots downwind, it’s absolutely quiet. Meade’s vision in 1969 is so spot-on today. I look at a lot of designs today, and I’m like, ‘Meh…they’re good, but they’re all condition-based.’ What Adagio does in all conditions is incredible. In winds less than 10 knots, no one is touching that boat. In the right conditions, Adagio would beat every boat by 15 miles—I guarantee that. It destroys TP52s and Great Lakes 70s because it’s ­incredibly slippery.”

Scharl’s boasts, of course, are backed by results, including a multihull division win in the 2020 Port Huron to Mackinac Race, a brutal upwind slog that saw most of its competitors retire. The previous year, the team of Scharl, Gurski and Gougeon finished second—by 14 seconds—to the 60-foot trimaran Earth Voyager . In 2016, 2017 and 2018 Adagio took home first-place honors. Countless victories beforehand with Meade and Jan and many others on board stand as a ­testament to its prowess.

Adagio ’s results reflect its proof of design, and its construction technique as well, Gougeon says. “It’s been around since the very beginning of the company,” he says, “so, after so many years, it stands out as a longevity thing. This boat was built with no mechanical fasteners in it—other than the stays that hold down the amas. It’s a testament to the epoxy, and certainly as she got faster in the earlier days and won a lot of races, it certainly helped promote West System to what it is today.”

As a sort of ­sailing shrine to the Gougeon family and the company it built more than 50 years ago, Adagio is an everlasting experiment that continues what they started when they put glue to wood. While nobody has ever tried to buy the boat, Gougeon says, it’s never been for sale anyway. Some things are not for sale, especially something this unique. There’s just not a better experience on a sailboat than Adagio going downwind, surfing waves, Gurski says. The sensation under spinnaker on this boat is magical. The quiet, the speed and the stillness are fantastic—just as Meade knew it would be.

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World of Trimaran Enthusiasts

Multihull sailing, racing trimarans, cruising tris, foiling, sciences & research… and little bit more..

A legend within the World of Trimaran Enthusiasts (WTE): 35 Feet Trimaran ADAGIO…

Its impressive, that “ old trimarans ” with more than 30-40 years of living can be competitive so long…. wowh .

Trimaran Adagio

The 35 Feet Trimaran ADAGIO is a legend within the World of Trimaran Enthusiasts (WTE) and a “pioneer of speed”. This powerful boat was built in 1969/70 (wood-epoxy) and designed by Meade and Jan Gougeon …well known in the world of boat building as Gougeon brothers who invented the WEST SYSTEM® epoxy (being used as standard method for building canoes, kayaks, kit boats or super yachts .)

Tri Adagio made many excellent places in Port Huron-to-Mackinac race: 1998 second, 1999 first, 2000 first, 2002 first, 2003 fifth, 2004 fifth, 2005 first, 2006 first, 2007 fifth, 2008 fifth, 2009 second. – Same in the Chicago-to-Mackinac race: 1998 first, 2000 first to finish, 2002 first to finish, 2006 first to finish.

Why we see very often such “old Trimarans” battling successfully on the regatta courses, and still participate competitively in single-handed and  short handed races ?

There are some very few reasons as I see it… and the answers seem simple:

• An excellent design by one of the extra ordinary designers (e.g. Kurt Hughes (USA), Nigel Irens (U.K.), Dick Newick (USA, 1926-2013), Ian Farrier (New Zealand), Chris White (USA),  Renaud Bañuls (France),  Marc Van Peteghem (France), Vincent Lauriot-Prévost (France), Tony Grainger (Australia) and some few others) is of high substance and timeless …
• … and follows the same rules again and again with every new model: simplicity (handling) – strength (of construction) = safetyness – fast (light displacement)

French Skipper Loick Peiron’s 60 foot Tri Fujifilm (1987, Nigel Irens Design)

• Light displacement construction, materials (marine plywood-epoxy, carbon, kevlar) and methods (vacuum infusion, vacuum high temperature autoclaves) keep the boats light weighted, fast and competitive.

Elder Trimarans easily (but costly) can be modernized by refitting, new wardrobe with modern sails (e.g. 3D head square main sail) and cutter rig (jib, genaker) plus trimming units like central daggerboard , T-rudders , lifting Foils and wing rotation mast . Some even have canting masts and water ballast (e.g. ORMA open 60 ).

Other aspects come into account to keep old Trimarans over decades alive:

• To build three hulls is a complexe process, time intensive and costly. Such investments look for longer caring.
• The owners and sailors of Trimarans have an extra ordinary passion for their boats and never stop to progress the potentials of their racing mashines … to sail with average speeds nowadays of 18-19 knots, in peak >35 knots.
• Its a small community of extreme sailors around the world. Most skippers and crew members know each other and with the Internet nowadays they keep connected to learn quickly from each other.
• The characters of Tri sailors have the spirit taking (higher) risks and experiments (compared to monohull sailors) and therefore are willing to implement new technologies more quickly into their “old boats”.

In my understanding Trimarans can fulfill the ecological aspect of sustainability in best form.

Vids with Trimaran ADAGIO in action… it’s 38 years old in the clip. 🙂

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Professional BoatBuilder Magazine

Game changer: meade gougeon, 1938–2017.

By Dan Spurr , Dec 11, 2017

Meade Gougeon works on a piece of rigging for a 32 ‘ (9.8m) catamaran designed by brother Jan. In the 1960s Meade and his brothers, Joel and Jan, built DN iceboats, raced them on Michigan’s Saginaw Bay…and never really stopped.

One of the most remarkable and influential people in boatbuilding passed away last August 27 from skin cancer at the age of 78. With brothers Joel and Jan, Meade formed Gougeon Brothers Inc. in 1969 to formulate and market WEST System epoxy resins and accessories. The name WEST stands for Wood Epoxy Saturation Technique, a process he developed to improve on traditional cold-molded hulls, in which multiple layers of thin wood veneers are diag onally stapled over frames and coated with low-viscosity epoxy resin to lock the pieces into a stiff monocoque structure. Living as the boys did on Saginaw Bay, inside Michigan’s thumb, racing iceboats was a popular winter activity. Soon they began building them—200 between 1969 and 1974.

From the beginning the Gougeons were true believers in wood; its excellent physical properties confirmed their conclusions in numerous lab tests they performed. But noting that just 25% of the strength of a good mechanically fastened joint is transferred, they began an intensive search for a means to join wood parts without fasteners. As any carpenter knows, wood and glue go together like a horse and saddle. Popular glues such as resorcinol required high clamping pressures in the order of 125 psi (862 kPa), and they were not suitable as coatings. With the aid of Herbert Dow, grandson of Dow Chemical Company’s founder and an avid iceboater, the Gougeons were introduced to a chemist who helped formulate an epoxy resin that functioned as a glue and as a coating to seal in desired moisture content of the wood used in construction.

Confident of their direction, Meade quit his job as an industrial salesman, and Joel, who flew 131 combat missions in the Vietnam War, contributed some of his savings. Along with younger brother Jan they bought a building on the Saginaw River and continued building boats—more DN iceboats and then the first all-WEST System boat, the 35 ‘ (10.7m) Adagio trimaran. The year was 1970. No metal fasteners were employed in the boat’s basic structures.

In the early days all three brothers worked in the boat­shop, commencing an impressive build list: the trimaran Vic tor T , which won the C-class Nationals in 1969; the Ron Holland–designed Golden Dazy , which won the 1975 Canada’s Cup; the 60 ‘ (18.3m) proa/sloop Slingshot , intended to break the world’s speed record under sail; the 60 ‘ Rogue Wave that newspaperman Phil Weld commissioned to compete in the OSTAR from Plymouth, England, to Newport, Rhode Island; and the Gary Mull–designed Hot Flash Half Tonner. All were cold-molded: lightweight, stiff, and strong. The boatbuilding world took note—not so much for the cold-molding construction process, but for their epoxy.

Word traveled locally at first, and eventually across the U.S. and to Europe and elsewhere. And not just among boat people. J.R. Watson, an early employee who spent a lot of time in customer service, recalls people calling and wanting to know if WEST System epoxy could repair a toilet tank. Indeed, GBI’s newsletter, Epoxyworks , advises readers on a very wide range of applications, many of which can be classified as home improvement.

Yellow Thing was one of Gougeon’s many small boats devised for his sailing pleasure.

By the late 1970s it was only natural that someone of Meade’s intellect desired to gather the company’s collective knowledge and share it via publication of a book. As it happened, Meade advertised for a writer/editor to join the GBI team, and I answered. My “interview” consisted of three visits to meet the brothers in Bay City, where I was given the assignment to read the book manuscript for The Gougeons on Boat Construction   and offer my thoughts on how it could be improved. The last of the three visits was to the family’s Fourth of July picnic, I guess to see if I was a good fit. Meade offered me the position, which for a variety of reasons I regretfully declined. But we became friends, perhaps in a way not possible if I’d become an employee.

While GBI became a profitable business, developing new product lines such as custom PRO-SET epoxies for other industries, including aerospace, Meade was always a boatbuilder at heart. It became customary for new employees to build a boat in the shop, where there was plenty of guidance available. Current CEO Alan Gurski, Meade’s son-in-law, built a Gougeon 12.3 when he came on board in 2007.

Meade (left) and Jan Gougeon sail the first WEST System boat, the trimaran Adagio , on Saginaw Bay, in 2009, for a 40th-anniversary story in this magazine.

Meade loved to sail and he liked to keep things simple, though on my last sail aboard Adagio he admitted there were no more control lines left to add. The boat had been totally tricked out. He developed a keen interest in small wind-driven boats. He and pal Hugh Horton used to get away in the Whalesback Channel area of Lake Huron’s North Channel. Horton says Meade was always well aware that his father had died of a heart attack (on Christmas morning) when Meade was still a teenager. Taking control of his diet and fitness regime, Meade always stayed in great shape; indeed, he won the North American DN iceboat championship at age 58—a remarkable feat. And just this year he won his class in the 300-mile Everglades Challenge from Tampa to Key Largo—competing in a sailing canoe. (In his feature “First Encounter,” on page 48, Jim Brown shares Randy Smyth’s account of sailing past Meade in that race.)

Few figures in boatbuilding were more admired than Meade—for his intellect, passion, dignity, and generosity.

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"Ollie," a 35-foot trimaran designed and built by Jan Gougeon, sails on the water in 1985.

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All Inductees > Class of 2015

Jan Clover Gougeon

August 7, 1945 - December 18, 2012

Bay City, Michigan

Jan Gougeon bio & tribute – WestSystem.com

The Gougeon Brothers on Boat Construction – PDF

Jan Gougeon obituary – Bay City

Jan Gougeon stories archive – SailingAnarchy.com

Sailing Giant Recalled – MyBayCity.com

Meade & Jan interview Aug. 8, 2008 Mackinac Race – SailingAnarchy.com – YouTube video

DN According to Jan Gougeon – IDNIYRA

Jan Gougeon profile – New England Ice Association

Meade Gougeon, the late Jan Gougeon’s older brother by seven years, says Optimist Pram designer Clark Mills saved his brother from a life of misery. Jan was not born well. “He was sickly,” Meade says, “cross-eyed, dyslexic, and so skinny we called him `rack of bones.’ The other kids teased him. He had low self-esteem. Then our local yacht club got 30 Opti kits. We’d been whacking together boats on the beach in Bay City for years, just like our ancestors, so we built an Opti in a week, paint and all. It was April, cold as hell, but Jan wanted to sail the boat. He sailed that boat 50 days in a row. He was eleven, and he never lost a race. Finally, he was not only good at something, he was gifted. He had it! It changed his life. He dominated the DN ice boat fleet from 1971 to 2000, winning eleven national championships and four Worlds. “Jan knew he was going to build boats. I didn’t have a direction, but I was hot to take a chance and said okay, let’s do it.” Jan went to Canada and apprenticed for three years under builder and pattern maker Vic Carpenter, who first introduced Jan and Meade to epoxy. Jane Pegel, who has sailed DNs beyond her 80th year, recalls the 1989 DN Worlds in Burlington, Vermont, when Jan broke his mast during a practice day. “He traveled in a small car,” Jane says. “He had no parts or repair kit with him. So we all gave him some `Gouge’ (West System), and he sat up all night in his room fixing the mast with tongue depressors. He said he worked stark naked so he wouldn’t have to wash his clothes. He got the mast fixed, and finished second in the Worlds that year.” Phil Weld’s plan to do a solo Atlantic crossing (he would set a record in 1980) in the trimaran Rogue Wave that the Gougeons were building for him, spurred Jan to sail a trimaran in the Bermuda One-Two in 1980. Sailing single-handed Bermuda to Newport, Jan got flipped over by a northeaster in the Gulf Stream. He survived four days on the overturned boat before a freighter found him. “The next four boats he built were rightable,” Meade says. “It was the first and last time any Gougeon had to be rescued. We always get back on our own steam.” – Roger Vaughan

Preserving America’s Sailing Legacy

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Published on July 24th, 2017 | by Editor

Winners confirmed in Bayview Mackinac Race

Published on July 24th, 2017 by Editor -->

Mackinac Island, MI (July 24, 2017) – The 93rd Bell’s Beer Bayview Mackinac Race came to a close today with 191 teams completing the courses that began with 205 starters.

After the start on July 22, there were 123 teams competing on the 259 nautical-mile Cove Island course with 82 teams racing on the shorter 204 nm Shore course. Both courses finished at Mackinac Island.

Taking the overall win in the Shore Course was Mark Miller’s Beneteau First 42 Comfortably Numb, who also topped the 18-boat Cruising Class.

“They said it would be a quick race, and it was,” noted Miller, who finished yesterday at 17:05:47. “I’ve never been that far up the course that early that fast. Near Alpena and Hammond Bay, there was storm after storm after storm. We took down our asymmetrical spinnaker and were jib reaching, battling three others in our class for 10 to 12 hours. I’ve done 34 Macs and never finished that early.”

Phil and Sharon O’Nieil and their team on the TP52 Natalie J took overall honors in the Cove Island course, winning the 13-boat Class A when they finished yesterday at 14:53:14.

“This is our fifth time to win overall…I’m incredibly excited,” said Phil O’Niel. “Don’t think anyone has had five overalls in the same boat.”

Finishing in about 26 hours, this was also the fastest race O’Niel had done. “We were never off the breeze all the way to Cove Island. Can’t ever remember going upwind that long, or getting that wet. (Saturday was torrential rain.) We were fourth around Cove Island, but got around other boats from there when it became a fun, fast downwind course.”

But O’Niel recalled it wasn’t all easy. “We ran into storms but thankfully you could see them coming. They really blasted us, needing to take down the spinnaker. Then the last 15 miles the wind died, which brought up the Santa Cruz 70s which are fast downwind and way bigger. But we were ahead of them and able to hold time differential on them (they were second and third overall).”

Winning the Multihull Division, which also sailed the Cove Island Course, was Adagio, a Gougeon 35 Trimaran owned by Ben Gougeon and Alan Gurski.

Race details – Results – Tracking – Facebook

Overview and close-up of the Cove Island and Shore Course for the Bell’s Beer Bayview Mackinac Race.

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Gougeon 32 catamaran

Discussion in ' Multihulls ' started by rapscallion , Jul 11, 2011 .

rapscallion Senior Member

After watching the promo video of the Gougeon 32 catamaran I have to say that boat is pretty damn clever, and with a PHRF rating of 21, the boat has to be fast as well. If I could find one for sale I would buy it; but with only 14 in existence, I'm not going to hold my breath. Are there any home build designs out there that are similar to the G-32? I know of the Jarcat and the Ecocat, I was thinking of something a bit larger.  

cavalier mk2 Senior Member

If you find out, let us know how they built the roller furling for the main. I've got a ancient Scottish unit I use for going past the second reef. Its strong but the gearing is slooow and it requires standing at the mast.  

sure, The rig on the G32 is pretty interesting. It cants sideways so the boat can be righted at sea. Another source of info on a roller furling boom is the designer of the L7 trimaran. The rig for the L7 also has a roller furling boom.  

basil Senior Member

Isn't it the same system used by Farrier on his tri's?  

Steve W Senior Member

The roller booms that they have been using for years use a large diameter home made line drive drum at the gooseneck that use a bunch of clam cleats sandwiched between a couple of discs of plywood or other sheet material,i believe they use small spinnaker pole end fittings for the gooseneck,the tube is just round tube and they build up the diameter at the outer end to encourage the sail to move forward as the sail rolls up so that the full length battens stack uo against the discs, nice and simple and must work well as they have been using these booms for 40yrs on all their boats while everyone has been grumbling how roller reefing dosnt work and you must use slab reefing. I am going to build something similar for my Lindenberg 26 but will probably use a shaft thru the mast with a socket for a winch handle on the front to get the bolt rope closer to the mast track on t he standard mast, the Gougeons mostly use homegrown wingmasts and the track may be further aft. I plan on using a prefeeder and entering the track a lot further up than it currently is to create a fairer lead into the mast. As has already been mentioned, Corsair has been using roller reefing/furling since day one. Steve.  

Rapps,i think Roger Simpson had a design for a 8ft 6" beam x 24ft cat like a big Jarcat, not sure if the plans are available though since he stopped designing. Steve.  

Thanks Steve, my furler does the job well but not quickly, I'll start playing with the idea. The 32 is a great boat but must have been expensive because of the low quantities. Hard to sell to the masses and a bit ahead of its time. Maybe they should try again.  

redreuben redreuben

Simpson plans are here : http://boatcraft.com.au/Shop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=32_33 Still very good boats imo. RR  

I dont see all of simpsons boats listed on the boatcraft site,the one im thinking of was not in his catalog but in a supplement so maybe it was not a completed design. Steve.  

Kendrick has some nice cats, there is a 24 but that needs a fancy trailer as it has "full" beam. http://www.teamscarab.com.au/5.6cat/design.html  

http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/in...ttach&attach_rel_module=post&attach_id=100106 Here is the wood/carbon fiber racing version of the Gougeon catamaran...  

http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/index.php?showtopic=81925&hl=gougeon catamaran&st=75 here is the mockup for the bowsprit. It will be equipped with water ballast like the G-32.  

Mmm, no pics for me ?  

http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/in...ttach&attach_rel_module=post&attach_id=100106 does this link work?  

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Got it ! WEIRD ! RR  

Gougeonified Chat 18 knockabout

Meade Gougeon passes away.

Jan gougeon passes away.

Gougeon/Gardiner trimaran for sale

Seen this Rad Cat from Gougeon Boys?

Extra Marstrom 32 and f40 catamaran hulls

Light weight big open deck catamaran

Limits to the beam of a catamaran ratio ?

Where did Uffa Fox sail Shearwater Catamaran 990?

Catamaran Strength Analysis

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A brief and abridged look back on the first five decades of Gougeon history.

Our Heritage

In the late 1960s , Brothers Meade, Joel, and Jan Gougeon opened a boat shop on the west side of the Saginaw River in Bay City, Michigan. Their first product was DN Iceboats, and they would sell more than 200 of them over their initial five years in business. They also built custom racing monohulls. The boats they built were light, fast, strong, and long-lasting thanks to the brothers’ pioneering the use of epoxy for cold-molded wooden boat construction. Previously, the epoxy had been used only as an adhesive. By reformulating it with diluents that allowed the epoxy to flow, they created an unsurpassed moisture-resistant substance with excellent laminating and coating characteristics.

Eldest brother Meade elaborated on the company’s origins:

My brother Joel returned from Vietnam having flown 131 combat missions. At the time, word was traveling as to what we were doing in our shop. Other boat builders were coming around asking questions and wanting to buy some of the epoxy resin and hardeners we were formulating for our own use. We were flattered but with the frequent interruptions, it was becoming increasingly difficult to get our boats built. Joel had saved some money during his four years in the air force and arrived at exactly the right time to invest in our fledgling business and help start a new business venture selling our epoxy. “Looking Back” by Meade Gougeon, Epoxyworks 29 , Spring 2009

For images and details of the many boats the Gougeons have built over the years, visit Gougeon Boats .

WEST SYSTEM Epoxy

By 1971 , the Gougeon Brothers were selling the flagship brand, WEST SYSTEM Epoxy, to other boat builders and individuals who wanted to use it to build or repair their own boats. Back then, epoxy was brand new to the marine market.

Meade Gougeon:

We worked hard those first months, setting up production facilities and developing packaging and labels. But looking back, this was actually the easy part. Far more difficult was adequately educating our new customers on the proper metering, mixing, and applying of the various components of the new WEST SYSTEM product line. Having worked with epoxy over the previous 10 years, we’d mistakenly assumed it would be as easy for the average customer to understand as it was for us. Instead, we found ourselves spending a good portion of our time on the phone explaining how to use the products, or providing tours of our shop to visitors who wanted to see with their own eyes this revolutionary approach to using wood as an engineering material. “Looking Back” by Meade Gougeon, Epoxyworks 29 , Spring 2009

Much of WEST SYSTEM’s early success was thanks to its compatibility with wood. It was used for building new wooden boats and repairing vintage watercraft.

By the early 1970s, mass-produced fiberglass boats had eclipsed the market for wooden boats. With the aging of the fiberglass fleet came the need for a dependable repair resin. Epoxies were popular because of their superior moisture resistance and ability to bond tenaciously to various materials. By the 1980s, WEST SYSTEM had become nationwide’s trusted go-to epoxy for boat repair yards.

The Boatbuilder

In 1977 , GBI published the first edition of The Boatbuider , a newsletter to keep customers apprised of the goings-on at the company. This black and white, 8-page newsletter would eventually grow up to become Epoxyworks magazine.

1n 1978 , GBI manufactured laminated wood specimens for use in NASA’s Wind Energy Project Office. Tests were performed to determine the strength of an epoxy bond between a threaded steel rod and a laminated wood specimen. The GBI specimens were so strong they actually broke NASA’s test machine.

Employee Stock Ownership Program

In 1983 , Gougeon Brothers, Inc. began the groundwork for becoming an employee-owned company . Any full-time Gougeon employee you speak with is a part-owner of the company and has a vested interest in keeping you as a satisfied customer.

Wind Turbine Blades

It was in 1985 that production of 65′ long wind turbine blades for Westinghouse began in GBI’s Bay City plant. When erected, these wind turbines swept a 142′-diameter and could produce 600 KW of power in 28 mph winds.

Gougeon Laminating Epoxy

In 1988 , the in-house chemists at Gougeon Brothers, Inc. developed Gougeon Laminating Epoxy, or GLH/GLH. This product line would be the precursor to the company’s popular OEM epoxy brand, PRO-SET. Most notably, the brothers used GLR/GLH in cold-molding wind blades for Westinghouse, in the production of their G-32 trailerable catamarans, and in the Formula 40 racing trimaran Adrenalin which competed in Brest, France. For more on the many boats built by GBI, visit Gougeon Boats.

DN Gold Cup

Jan Gougeon took his 4th DN World Gold Cup, placing 1st overall in the 5 races of the International DN Ice Yacht Racing Association (IDNIYRA) Gold Fleet Regatta. The competition to place very close to home: on Lake Huron’s Saginaw in February 1991 .

Epoxyworks Magazine

GBI’s occasional newsletter, The Boatbuilder , became a full-fledged bi-annually published magazine in 1992 . Christened Epoxyworks , the publication deeply delves into building, restoration, and repair with epoxy. With more than 100,000 subscribers between its print and digital editions, Epoxyworks is easily the most widely read magazine on epoxy geared for the do-it-yourself audience.

PRO-SET Epoxy

The brand name Gougeon Laminating Epoxies was changed to PRO-SET in 1994 . These OEM epoxies set new standards in room-temperature cured, post-curable laminating, and infusion epoxies. They have continued to grow in popularity among high-end composite builders in the marine, automotive, and aerospace industries.

ISO Certification

In 2002 , GBI completed the arduous certification process under the ISO 9001:2000 Quality Standard . The standard represents a quality management system that pervades all elements of the business, giving structure to a whole dynamic of customer service. It’s how you know all Gougeon epoxies are manufactured with consistency and great attention to detail under the most rigorous of production standards.

G/flex Epoxies

G/flex toughened epoxies were introduced in 2007 . These innovative epoxy formulations are rubber toughened and bond tenaciously with many plastic, aluminum, and hardwood types. They resist the stress of expansion, contraction, shock, and vibration.

GBI introduced Six10 Thickened Epoxy Adhesive in 2009 . This 2-part epoxy system is packaged in a chambered, self-metering cartridge designed to be dispensed with a standard caulking gun. Its convenience and versatility made it an immediate hit with first-time and seasoned epoxy users.

Jan C. Gougeon 1945 – 2012

GBI founder Jan Gougeon was an extremely competitive sailor from age 11 until shortly before his death in late 2012 at age 67. He dominated the DN iceboat fleet from 1971 to 2000, winning 11 national championships and four Worlds. He was the only member of the 2015 National Sailing Hall of Fame class to be inducted posthumously.

National Sailing Hall of Fame

Brothers Meade and Jan Gougeon were inducted into The National Sailing Hall of Fame (NSHOF) in October 2015 . They were selected because of their pioneering work in using epoxies for boat construction and because they were accomplished, lifelong sailors.

Meade A. Gougeon 1938 – 2017

GBI founder Meade Gougeon passed away in the late summer of 2017 at age 78. He sailed competitively up until the end of his life: In the spring of 2017, he finished first in his class (sailing kayaks and canoes) in the 300-mile Everglades Challenge, a grueling race of small boats powered only by wind or muscle.

2018: Entropy Resins

Never content to rest on the laurels of their early successes, the company stays at the cutting edge of product quality, sustainability, environmental stewardship, and market growth. In 2018, they acquired Entropy Resins, a small, bio-based epoxy brand popular in the board-sports industry as well as with artisans and craftspeople. 

Entropy Resins developed Super Sap® technology and manufactured the first epoxy product to be certified under the USDA Certified Biobased Product label program. Today, all Entropy Resins products meet the program criteria and are USDA Certified Biobased Products.

Through green chemistry, biobased and rapidly renewable raw materials, and efficient manufacturing, Super Sap technology is how GBI conserves energy, minimizes harmful byproducts, and reduces the greenhouse gas emissions of these epoxy products from processing. They use third-party laboratories to measure the biobased content of our products.

50th Anniversary

In honor of Gougeon Brothers, Inc.’s 50th anniversary in 2019 , Bay City’s mayor, Kathleen Newsham, made the following proclamation:

Proclamation

Whereas Gougeon Brothers, Inc., a Bay City-based epoxy company with distribution worldwide, celebrates its 50th Anniversary in business today with festivities that include hundreds of their dearest family members, coworkers, colleagues, retirees, neighbors, and friends,

Whereas founders Meade, Joel, and Jan Gougeon were born and raised in Bay City, and chose to make their homes here, and start and keep their employee-owned business here, and build cool boats here, and employ people who are smart, disciplined, and extremely good looking, and sporadically celebrate their successes by lifting a beer glass at the White Goose Inn,

Whereas the company has continuously supported the causes of quality of life, education, and the environment within this community via the Gougeon Employees Foundation,

Whereas on a beautiful Saturday evening near the Saginaw River, to the absolute delight and wonder of everyone gathered around, I, The Honorable Mayor of Bay City Kathleen Newsham, join in the reverie to proclaim that in thanks for their part in bringing five decades of economic growth, excellent employment opportunities, and really cool boats to Bay City and its bodies of water, August Third will be hereby and henceforth known as Gougeon Brothers Day .

Therefore, be it resolved that we declare today, August Third of the year Two-Thousand-and-Nineteen, as the first Gougeon Brothers Day . May this company and this community continue to grow and thrive.

USA Bobsled Team

The USA Bobsled Team ’s go-to for sled repairs throughout their 2020 season was WEST SYSTEM 105 Resin with 205 Fast Hardener. They’d complete the repairs–sometimes in a hotel lobby–let the epoxy cure, then hop into their sled and smoke the competition.

What Pandemic?

As a manufacturer supplying materials for essential infrastructure in the US, GBI was required to remain in continuous operation throughout the 2020-2021 COVID-19 pandemic. While many non-essential employees were set up to work remotely, critical departments such as quality control, manufacturing, and shipping continued full-time on-site, with strict COVID-safety protocols in place, and hazard pay.

G/flex Syringe

In early 2021 , perennially popular G/flex Thickened Epoxy Adhesive became available in a convenient dispensing syringe. The G/flex 655-1 syringe contains 0.42 oz. of resin and 0.42 oz. of hardener, perfect for small repair jobs.

Gougeon Brothers, Inc. is an employee-owned, family-run company located in Bay City, Michigan. We manufacture Entropy Resins ®, PRO-SET ® Epoxy, and WEST SYSTEM ® Epoxy. We also distribute PRO-VAC Vacuum Bag Consumables and publish Epoxyworks magazine. We’re ISO 9001:2015 registered , which means we manufacture all of our products to consistent and rigorous standards.

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1925 Course

Division iii, division ii, results archive.

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Building, restoration, and repair with epoxy

Still Formidable after 46 Years

By Ben Gougeon

Adagio , our beloved trimaran, was designed and built by Meade and Jan Gougeon in 1969 and launched in the summer of 1970. After undergoing a minor refit this past winter, she still has what it takes to win. We ’ re extremely proud that Adagio placed first in the multihull division of 2016 Bell ’ s Beer Bayview Mackinac Race, which spans almost 300 miles of often treacherous Great Lakes.

This year ’ s race was fast, with Adagio finishing in just over 29 hours. The fleet had a beautiful, mostly downwind run to the Cove Island buoy and then a thrilling reach most of the way to Mackinac Island. Of course, Lake Huron had to throw 35-knot winds, rapidly shifting direction, at us about 40 miles from the finish line, but Adagio continued strong. This was the fifth time Adagio took first place in this venerable race, having won the open class in 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2006.

Adagio leading the pack at the start of the race. Strings, another Gougeon-built boat, shown in third would finish second in the multihull division of the 2006 Bell’s Beer Bayview Mackinac Race.

During the winter we prepared for the race by modifying the spinnaker pole, replacing most of her hardware, improving the deck layout for speed and simplicity, optimizing sheeting locations and putting on a gorgeous set of North Sails. We performed some minor repairs and maintenance to the hulls, but did almost no structural work other than extending the cabin top 12″ to gain sheeting angle.

Heavy winds and rain as Adagio passes Round Island Lighthouse to finish the race first in the multihull division.

In many ways, Adagio is a testament to wood/epoxy boat building. To our knowledge, she was the first large wooden boat bonded together entirely with epoxy and using no permanent mechanical fasteners. She was also the first wooden boat completely sealed with epoxy both inside and out for moisture exclusion.

This winter, we plan to replace the original centerboard case which has provided 47 years of service. Considering what she ’ s been asked to do over the last half-century, I ’ d say Adagio’s longevity has been quite amazing. With proper care, maintenance, and a little luck, she’ll be leading future generations of Gougeon ’ s across the finish line.

(L to R) Alan Gurski, Matt Scharl and Ben Gougeon crewed Adagio to victory in the Division III, Cove Island Multihull fleet of the 2016 Bell’s Beer Bayview Mackinac Race.