Tag Archives: GBI History

Jan C. Gougeon in the boat shop

Jan C. Gougeon

August 7, 1945 – December 18, 2012

Jan Gougeon was a visionary, ingenious, and a great innovator who could see beyond boundaries, one of a few people to really have changed the boatbuilding game in his lifelong quest for speed. This is how boat builders, designers, sailors, and iceboaters recall Jan. A natural engineer, Jan became an accomplished boat designer and builder who was always thinking about his next boat. His vibrant, boyish enthusiasm lit up the room. Jan was a fierce competitor who shared tips and technology openly, offering astute and encouraging advice to novice and veteran sailors and builders alike. Continue reading →

Golden Day 1976

Looking Back on Epoxy Technology

How WEST SYSTEM® Products Got Their Start

By Meade Gougeon — GBI Founder
Epoxyworks 28

Cover Photo: Top image – First GBI crew building GOLDEN DAZY in the early ’70s. Bottom image – The Gougeon Brothers, Inc. team in 2008.

 

2009 was the 40th Anniversary of Gougeon Brothers, Inc. 1969 marked a point in the Gougeon brothers’ careers when they applied all they had learned about wooden structures and epoxy technology to manufacture, for the first time, a product utilizing wood/epoxy composite construction. The full story of Gougeon Brothers, Inc. begins long before that date and is sure to continue well into the next 40 years.

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Decades of Epoxy Technology

By Tim Atkinson — Senior Chemist

Epoxyworks #4, Spring 1994

Cover Photo: The Formula 40 trimaran ADRENALIN is just one of the high-end epoxy composite structures built during Gougeon Brothers first 25 years.

Editors note: Our head chemist Tim Atkinson penned this piece on some of the history of Gougeon Brothers, Inc. on the occasion of our 25th anniversary, back in 1994.

In 1969, Meade Gougeon and his younger brother Jan founded Gougeon Brothers’ Boatworks to build iceboats. These lightweight, sail-powered vessels were built of wood laminated with epoxy. By 1973, the company was the largest builder of iceboats in the country. The company rapidly expanded its business into other boat-building efforts. Continue reading →