Technology
Fuelling the revival
An unexpected development in the last 18 months is that participation in traditional dinghy classes has gone through the roof... but the dinghies of today are being built with some very non-traditional materials
Demand for Pro-Set epoxy has never been so high or so diverse. This is partly due to the way the pandemic has drawn sailors back to their passion more closely than ever. Dave Johnson, sales director of Wessex Resins and Adhesives, licensed manufacturers of West System and Pro-set products in Europe, is awestruck by the explosion of interest and engagement in the small-boat scene, particularly in the UK. ‘We have just about every UK dinghy builder using our Pro-Set products now. The big names like Ovington and Winder, Maguire, White Formula, RS, Synergy, Hadron and so on.
‘Singlehanded dinghy sales went ballistic last year and show little sign of slowing down. A recent Merlin Rocket open yielded a 100-plus turnout. The International Moths are foiling faster than ever and proving incredibly popular, and most of them are laminated, infused and bonded with our Pro-Set product.’ Wessex Resins has been manufacturing West System and Pro-Set epoxy under license from Gougeon Brothers for more than 40 years. Over this time Gougeon Brothers Inc has developed a range of battle-hardened, marine-proof products that work across the whole range of water-borne craft, from wooden classics to the latest carbon
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composite extreme machines. ‘There’s a huge amount of science and legwork that has gone into developing our products – we are working closely with Gougeon Brothers in constantly developing products. They’re formulated to be strong and reliable, and also very user-friendly. It functions very, very well without too much of a Formula One type of setup. We know it will perform very well in typical boatbuilding workshops. That's what it's formulated for, to be easy to use, and it will cure well and get good characteristics even in less than ideal environments.’ Back in early 2020 when the pandemic first hit, the phone stopped ringing and sales dropped off a cliff. But it didn’t take long for the tide to come back in, higher than ever. ‘Certainly, at the start of the pandemic, like so many other businesses, we did not know what to expect at all. But within a few weeks the telephone calls and the requests for information started coming in. That allowed us to give really solid advice on, say, the restoration of a dinghy in a garage that had been under dust covers for many years and maybe had been a point of family sentimentality. Finally, the covers were being dragged off these boats and work commenced while people couldn't do anything else.
Top: Pro-Set is formulated to work very well in the less than ideal condi- tions of a typical boat- building workshop. Above: many old plywood dinghies from the mid-20th century are making a comeback
They were able to get our product via mail order or through the click- and-collect shops.
‘We saw this growth in activity and that was reflected in a lot of on-the- water activity when the clubs opened up again. A lot of singlehanded boats came out of the garage and were restored and put back on the water. People used our products to rebuild boats that might have been past their sell-by date. The great thing about high-quality epoxy is that it will create a lovely long-lasting sailing dinghy that will stand up to the stresses of rigging and setting up in the dinghy park, the launching, the racing and potentially the capsizing too!’ Johnson makes the point that it’s not the just the quality of the epoxy products and their ease of use that set them apart from the competition, it’s the after-sales support and
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