Unsere Geschichte

More Than 160,000 Graduates Since 1964

The history of Offshore Sailing School and incredible story of its long-time ownersSteve und Doris Colgateis described beautifully in OFFSHORE High, a biography written by renowned sailing author Herb McCormick. Available through Amazon, bookstores and Offshore, it tells the story of the amazing growth of a little known business, and the profound love-story of its founder and leaders.

Offshore Sailing School is the brainchild of Steve Colgate. In 1964, auf einer Cocktailparty 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. Fast forward half a century later, In 2015 Steve is inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame for his leadership in sailing education, the development of the Colgate 26 keelboat for training sailors, and his incredibly successful sailboat racing career.

Told to Get A “Real Job”

Fresh out of the Air Force, the pressure was on for Steve to 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 where he could share his passion for sailing and the sailing lifestyle with others. At the time, the only other sailing school known to Steve was offered by a yacht broker in California. Steve started teaching evening classes out of a small office in Manhattan and onboard the 34 footer on weekends out of City Island, NY 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 alone around all five Capes.

Foresight and an Olympic Class Sailboat

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, and was used for Offshore Sailing School Learn to Sail, Performance Sailing and Racing courses until 1996.

Yachting Magazine Connection

In 1967, a skinny blonde looking for a career change answered an ad in the New York Times. Doris 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, Bob Bavier, 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. She was invited to spend her weekends sailing.

America’s Cup Years

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 (now Sailing World magazine), 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 Bahamas Performance Race Weeks in January 1968. The rough waters off Grand Bahama Island were a challenge, but the biggest and most exciting challenge lay ahead.

A Lasting Partnership

Steve and Doris Colgate were married in December 1969 and spent their honeymoon getting the Soling fleet ready in the Bahamas. Doris was already helping Steve with his business on her lunch hours and joined Offshore full-time in 1970. While writing books to complement his sailing instruction courses, and developing new and innovative ways to teach sailing, Steve continued racing in one-design national and international championships and on racing yachts at home and all over the world.

Flotilla Cruises – The World Under Sail

In 1973, a friend said to Doris, “Okay, you’ve taught all these people, what are you going to do to keep them sailing?” So, Doris and Steve organized and led flotilla cruises for Offshore Sailing School graduates in the world’s most beautiful sailing destinations. These were the first flotilla cruises offered by a U.S. company. Now other Offshore Sailing School team members lead these special graduate adventures, ranging from four to 10 sailboats and 20 to 60 participants at a time. In the picture to the right, the Colgates are with Offshore Cruising Club participants on a 1989 flotilla cruise in Yugoslavia (now Croatia), sailing from Split to Dubrovnik and back. In 2008 the Colgates led their 10th cruise in Greece, then two back-to-back cruises in 2010 in the Grenadines, another in Belize in 2011 before passing the flotilla helm to others under the Colgate Sailing Adventures® mantra. Check out upcoming flotilla cruises here.

Adventures and Growth

In 1978 the Colgates started campaigning their 54′ ocean racer, Sleuth, in races all over the world, including the infamous 1979 Fastnet Race where 19 people died in disastrous wind conditions and Sleuth won her class. When Steve moved on to maxis, Passage Making courses were taught aboard this exciting ocean racer.

In 1968, Steve started Sailing Symposiums – a winter sailboat race training program called Performance Race Week. The program started on Grand Bahama Island in the Bahamas and moved to Great Exuma with a year in Nassau in between. In 1970, Learn to Sail courses were added to the winter Bahamas programs, followed by cruising courses. That same year the Colgates opened a branch on Martha’s Vineyard, which lasted until John Baluchi’s fame took over the Vineyard and rooms ashore became scarce. In 1973, Offshore Sailing School began teaching cruising courses with The Moorings in the British Virgin Islands; and moved its Bahamas location to Palmas del Mar, Puerto Rico. In 1988 the Colgates solidified their association with The Moorings as its official sailing school and in 2013 a new Offshore Sailing School location opened in the British Virgin Islands at Scrub Island Resort.

Big Apple Enterprise

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 Ratsey & Lapthorn sail loft at water’s edge, renovating and calling it the Offshore Sailing Center, which housed the Company’s offices, classrooms, a restaurant and bar (Offshore Café), and retail store (On and Offshore). During that period, the number of students taking courses per year rose to 3,000, Offshore started a sailing club called the Sail Away Club, and expanded sailing course selections. When the Colgates sold the Offshore Sailing Center buildings, grounds and docks in 1988, Offshore Sailing School’s New York metro branch moved to the old Colgate soap factory in Jersey City, NJ and then to three other locations in New York Harbor. That same year the Colgates moved Offshore’s headquarters to Ft. Myers, FL, where it remains today. When you call the toll free number, 888-454-7015 oder 239-454-1700 you’re calling sunny Florida!

Captiva Island Discovered

In 1975, while seeking a new location in Florida to replace the school’s Palmas del Mar, Puerto Rico base, the Colgates traveled down the east coast of Florida to Key West and then up the Gulf coast until they reached South Seas Island Resort (then called South Seas Plantation) on a tiny island in the Gulf of Mexico, called Captiva. To get to Captiva, they drove over a drawbridge from the mainland to Sanibel Island, Dann 17 miles on a two-lane road to a tiny bridge that connected to Captiva, and found what would became Offshore Sailing School’s most popular campus. After 47 Jahre, the Colgates moved their Captiva location close by to ‘Tween Waters Resort & Spa.

Recession Innovation

When the recession hit in the early ‘80s, the Colgates saw great activity at their City Island, NY branch but the resort-based locations were less popular because of the cost of flying and driving to those locations. Also, they took the Learn to Sail course on the road – with an RV (for instructor living and student classroom) towing a Soling to 25 sailing areas across the United States over a two year period. While it was pretty tough on the instructor, the course was very popular wherever they showed up.

Steve Develops the Ultimate Sailboat for Training

Perhaps the biggest and one of the most innovative changes came in 1996, when Steve gave up his search for a 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 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 have also been fleet owners. The U.S. Naval Academy bought 12 more Colgate 26s for intercollegiate racing in December 2015, increasing its fleet size to over 40 of these innovative trainers.

New Courses and Programs

Throughout the years, new courses and programs are constantly developed and longstanding courses are tweaked. Seit 2000, Offshore Sailing School has partnered with guest experts for Performance Race Week. In 1974 an innovative course was born in answer to clients’ increasingly busy schedules. Now our most popular course, Fast Track to Cruising®, combines the experience of learning to sail with learning to cruise in an 8-day program that starts with two days on a Colgate 26 and immediately segues to 6 days on a state-of-the-art 43’ to 50’ monohull or catamaran sailing yachts. In addition to sailing, the Colgates added the popular Fast Track to Power Cruising course on 37′-50′ power cats.

Offshore Sailing School uses the Colgate 26 exclusively for Learn to Sail, Performance Sailing and Racing courses. Learn to Cruise courses are offered on catamarans and monohulls with new yachts entering the Offshore fleet on a regular basis at stateside locations, and on specially designed charter boats provided by longtime partner, The Moorings in the British Virgin Islands.

The Finest Resort Destinations for Sailing

Over the years many other Offshore Sailing School locations have been tested, including Bar Harbor, ME; Irvington, VA; Hilton Head Island, SC; and Newport, RI. We have even conducted navigation courses on 100’ schooners. Year-round resort destinations are the company’s focus in popular Florida getaways, the British Virgin Islands, and other U.S. and world-wide locations. Mehr als 160,000 adult graduates and their families have developed new skills and confidence with Offshore Sailing School since 1964. The Colgates are pleased to know that those whose lives they’ve touched with exceptional sailing education are now pursuing their dreams.

Like Steve, Doris was inducted in The National Sailing Hall of Fame, Class of 2022 for all the innovative work she has done to bring more people (especially women) into the sailing lifestyle.