SUE PEKAEC/O GOUGEON BROTHERS INC(^18) CLASSIC BOAT NOVEMBER 2017
Tell Tales
Classic Boat’s address:
Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place,
London, SW3 3TQ
[email protected]
Thames sailing
barges in the capital
The bascules of the world-famous Tower
Bridge in central London opened at noon on
16 September to let through a fleet of a
dozen sailing barges, led by Gladys, a
wooden barge built in 1901. James Hamilton
was there to capture the magnificent sight,
the second Thames Sailing Barge Parade, an
event incorporated within the established
'Totally Thames' festival that takes place
annually during the month of September.
They travelled as far up as London Bridge,
holding their position for half an hour to
allow people to see them before sailing
back out through Tower Bridge and into the
estuary and beyond. Due to financial
pressures, it has now been decided that the
Thames Festival will run biennially. The next
event will be held in September 2019.
Epoxy pioneer Meade A Gougeon
died peacefully at home in Bay City,
Michigan, in August, surrounded by
his family. He is known today as one
of the three founding fathers of the
use of epoxy glue in the build and
repair of wooden boats. The other
two were Jan (deceased) and Joel.
They formed the company known
today as Gougeon Brothers Inc in
1969, starting to use the miracle
adhesive on the DN-Class iceboats.
By 1973, their small boat shop in Bay
City, Michigan, was the biggest
builder of iceboats in the USA. A year
later in 1974, they sold the iceboat
part of the business to focus on
epoxy and the building of ‘soft-water’
boats. Perhaps the best-known of
these was the 35ft (11m) trimaran
Adagio. She was the first large,
all-epoxy bonded and sealed boat in
the world, built with no traditional
fasteners in just six months with
brother Jan. She is still sailing, and
won the Bayview Mackinack Race
earlier this year, testament to epoxy’s
longevity. These days, Gougeon
Brothers Industries is best known for
its WEST System and Pro-Set
epoxies.
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OBITUARY
Meade Gougeon 1938-
Meade was a keen multihull sailor,
ice-boater and cyclist. He is survived
by his wife of 46 years, Janet, 10
children (7 by adoption) and 14
grandchildren. The Gougeon Brothers
on Boat Construction remains a
classic text, but more than anything,
Meade and his two brothers will be
remembered for providing boatbuilders
with the best product since varnish.
JAMES HAMILTON
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