History of Offshore Sailing School

Offshore Sailing School is the dream and brainchild of our founder, Steve Colgate. In 1964, at a cocktail party in New York City, he met a J.C. Penny executive who owned a 34' yawl. Offshore Sailing School began that evening with a handshake and the entrepreneurial spirit of a young passionate sailor.

Fresh out of the Air Force, the pressure was on Steve to get "a real job" and follow in the footsteps of other Colgate men. But 30 year old Steve, a Yale graduate and natural teacher, was already an expert sailor set on a career in sailing. He wanted to share his lifestyle with others.

At the time, the only other sailing school known to Steve was offered by a yacht brokerage on the West Coast. Steve started teaching evening classes out of a small office in Manhattan and onboard the 34 footer on weekends out of City Island, where Long Island Sound meets New York City waterways. His early students included one of the Hammersteins and Bill Pinkney, the first African American to sail around all five Capes.

The partnership broke up after a year and Steve, as sole owner, borrowed $6,000 from his mother and with great foresight, bought two brand new 27' Solings for the school. The Norwegian-designed Soling had just won the International Three-man Keelboat Design competition. A fast, responsive and exciting boat to sail, the Soling became an Olympic class in 1968.

In 1967, a skinny blonde looking for a career change answered an ad in the New York Times. She had never been on a sailboat in her life but when she entered the doors of Yachting magazine's headquarters she knew she was hooked. On the advice of her boss, who three years earlier had successfully defended the America's Cup, she took the Learn to Sail course at Offshore Sailing School that July. Suddenly, new opportunities and new friendships started to blossom.
Offshore was a two-boat, two-instructor operation at the time. Steve was off racing Twelve-Meter sailboats in the America's Cup trials (shown at right steering Heritage in those trials). From those humble beginnings, Offshore started to grow. A then popular racing magazine, One-Design and Offshore Yachtsman, approached Steve to start a racing school in the Bahamas. That's where Doris met Steve. Thirsting for more sailing education, she enrolled in one of those Race Weeks in January 1968. The rough waters off Grand Bahama Island were a challenge, but the biggest and most exciting challenge lay ahead.

Steve and Doris Colgate were married in December 1969. Doris was already spending her vacations cruising with graduates in the world's most beautiful sailing destinations. The Colgates led more than 60 of these cruises, ranging from four to 10 sailboats and 24 to 60 participants at a time, before turning them over to deserving Offshore staff. However, just a few years ago they lead their 10th cruise in Greece, and in May 2010 will lead another graduate cruise – this time from St. Lucia to Grenada and Grenada back to St. Lucia in the Caribbean.
In the early 80's, Offshore's headquarters moved to spacious offices in a midtown high-rise and six years later to City Island, when the Colgates bought the 40,000 square foot former Ratsey and Lapthorn sail loft at waters edge. During that period, the number of students taking courses per year rose to 3,000 and the number and choice of courses expanded.

In 1975, while seeking a new location in Florida to replace the school's Puerto Rican location, the Colgates happened on South Seas Plantation (now South Seas Island Resort) on a tiny island in the Gulf of Mexico, called Captiva. That location would soon become its most popular and in 1988, they moved Offshore's headquarters to nearby Ft. Myers, where it remains today. When you call the toll free number, 800-221-4326 you're calling sunny Florida!

Perhaps the biggest and one of the most successful changes came in 1996, when Steve gave up his search for an innovative new training boat and decided to design exactly what he wanted. He connected with famed yacht designer Jim Taylor, and the COLGATE 26 Sailboat became a reality. One year later, after an extensive search, the United States Naval Academy chose the COLGATE 26 to replace its old, outdated fleet used for training midshipmen. In the summer of 2001 the prestigious United Kingdom Sailing Academy added the COLGATE 26 to its fleet of trainers, as did Club Nautique on the West Coast and Eckerd College in Florida. The United States Coast Guard Academy, Maine Maritime and a host of individuals, sailing schools and clubs are also fleet owners.
Offshore Sailing School uses the COLGATE 26 exclusively for Learn to Sail, Performance Sailing and Racing courses. Cruising courses are offered on new cruising boats provided by Hunter Marine at stateside locations, and on specially designed charter boats provided by The Moorings in the British Virgin Islands. The experience of learning to sail and continuing on in a cruising course is combined in Fast Track to Cruising® —Offshore's most popular program.

Commuter locations provide a host of courses in New York Harbor with year-round resort destinations in the most popular winter getaways. Today Offshore has seven locations: three on the west coast of Florida, the British Virgin Islands, on Chesapeake Bay, and in New Jersey and New York City with sailing on the Hudson River. More than 115,000 adult graduates and their offspring have developed new skills and confidence through sailing since 1964. The Colgates are so pleased to know that those whose lives they've touched with sailing are now pursuing their dreams.

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