Our industry has lost one of its pioneers. Yvon Gosselin, R&D supervisor at Princecraft Boats, passed away on April 3, 2016. The statement from Princecraft reads:
It is with great sadness that Princecraft Boats Team announces the death of Yvon Gosselin, R & D supervisor for over 37 years. He died on April 3rd 2016, after a long illness, surrounded by his beloved ones.
First hired as a designer in 1978, Mr. Gosselin rose through the ranks to become one of the pioneers of the R & D department at Princecraft in the mid 80’s. Under his leadership, several innovations emerged such as a totally reinvented square chine hull, a design that revolutionized the aluminum boating industry. Deeper, with a wider transom, this new hull could accommodate higher horsepower engines while remaining very aerodynamic and stable. A new generation of boats was born.
At the same period, Princecraft diversified its operations to attack the new and fast-growing pontoon market.
It is under his leadership as well that the European-style design appeared. Launched at the end of the 80’s, this design, where the rear of the hull cut at an angle, streamlined the boat without sacrificing performance. The Corsica was the first boat of its type with an aluminum cabin and was a hit right off the bat.
To keep pace with market trends and compete with fiberglass products, Princecraft developed an aluminum deck boat line in the early 90’s. Perfect hybrid between a boat and a pontoon, the deck boat had a V-shaped hull like a boat plus all the roominess and comfort of a pontoon.
Princecraft Boats Team will remember Yvon as rigorous, unifying, dedicated, passionate, human and warm person with witty sense of humor. He was a pillar, a lighthouse for everybody.
Boat in peace, Captain Yvon…
The entire team at PDB magazine expresses their condolences.
