In the beginning

The Gougeon brothers – Meade, Joel and Jan – grew up building and racing wooden boats on Lake Huron, Michigan, in the United States. They raced on water in the summer and on ice in the winter. In the 1960s they began building boats professionally and experimented with practical, low-cost and versatile methods of construction.

Fast and strong

They wanted to build fast, lightweight boats that were tough and strong enough to survive the high loads of hard racing. With limited time and money, their methods couldn’t be fussy or expensive.

The power of epoxy

The answer lay in a recent development of epoxide resins and hardeners. These were solvent-free and – crucially for boatbuilding – formed an exceptionally good barrier against both water and oxygen, which cause wood rot.

Puncturing myths

As if to prove a point, here is a photo of ‘Adagio’: built in wood epoxy composite by Meade Gougeon, this catamaran is lighter today than it was when Meade built it in 1968, providing first hand proof of the exceptional qualities and benefits of using WEST SYSTEM epoxy.

Flexibility and strength

Realising that a boat’s ability to withstand a single impact was not as important as its long-term resistance to the daily assaults of wind and water, the brothers set about the task of modifying the epoxy formulations until they found the best balance between many crucial factors including flexibility, moisture resistance and high strength.

Safe working practices

The brothers honed their techniques to reduce labour and, at the same time, to establish safe handling procedures for the new epoxy system. Just as they aimed for a balance between cured physical properties, so they looked for – and found – formulations that were effective and low in toxicity.

Extreme testing

We began marketing WEST SYSTEM® epoxy and associated products in 1982; Gougeon Brothers began 10 years earlier. Since then, we have continued to improve our methods and materials. WEST SYSTEM epoxy has always been strong, but it was only through intensive test programmes that we discovered the true extent of its physical properties, and in particular the ability to withstand repeated loads.

Other industries

Not surprisingly, perhaps, It was not long before boatbuilding techniques were applied to volume production of high-quality aerofoils in other industries. By the 1980s, Gougeon Brothers had become a leading manufacturer of laminated wind turbine blades, thus gaining further invaluable experience and knowledge on the performance of WEST SYSTEM epoxy.

The industry standard

The methods first developed by the Gougeon brothers using WEST SYSTEM® epoxy have become the standard techniques taught in colleges the world over for building boats with epoxy.

Introducing PRO-SET

Half a century on, our product lines have all the epoxide resins, hardeners and associated ancillary products to produce strong, moisture and fatigue-resistant epoxies suitable for an extremely wide range of common and specialist applications. Our PRO-SET® range has set the bar for the world’s most demanding, high-tolerance professional composite applications.

About our brands

Since Michigan boatbuilders Meade, Joel and Jan Gougeon first experimented with the bonding power of epoxy over 50 years ago, WEST SYSTEM® and PRO-SET® product ranges have become the marine epoxy of choice for naval engineers, boat manufacturers, chandlers and private boat owners throughout the world.

Wessex Resins and Adhesives has been working in partnership with Gougeon Brothers Inc. for more than 30 years. Under licence from GBI, we manufacture WEST SYSTEM®, PRO-SET® and ENTROPY RESINS® epoxies here in the UK. We have developed an extensive distribution network throughout Europe, parts of Africa to ensure that the products are widely available throughout our markets.

The WEST SYSTEM and PRO-SET ranges have a long distinguished history that has earned a unique place at the heart of the worldwide epoxy user community. They are durable, water resistant and perfect for making lightweight modern structures. Not surprisingly the strength, versatility and resilience of our epoxies means that today, the products are used in many other industries as well – from civil engineering to architectural restoration to wind turbines and even musical instruments.

Whether you need an epoxy for laminating, bonding, coating, tooling or infusion, the combined breadth of WEST SYSTEM, PRO-SET and ENTROPY RESINS products will provide the solution. We have amassed a depth of knowledge that matches the breadth of our products – we share this freely with all our clients, large and small.

All our products have passed extensive quality testing – our quality management system is certified to ISO 9001 2015 Certificate and many of our products are approved by Lloyd’s Register of Shipping and DNVGL.

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