Meade Gougeon, 78

Bay City, Mich.

The sailing legend and industry innovator who pioneered the use of boatbuilding epoxies died from skin cancer Aug. 27.

The day before his death, the Great Lakes Multihull Regatta was held on the Saginaw Bay, near Gougeon’s Killarney Beach home. Knowing that Gougeon was dying, race organizers moved buoy race markers closer to his home, giving him one last race to take in. Reclined in his chair, he felt the Saginaw Bay breeze across his face and spoke his final words: “The wind is coming up; tell the boys they can commence with the race.”

While Mead logged a stellar sailboat racing career, including a North American championship at 58, he and his late brother Jan were best known worldwide for their home-baked epoxy, with which they built race-winning boats in the early 1960s. In 1969, the Gougeon brothers, including Joel Gougeon, went into business selling West System Epoxy.