Offshore Sailing School is owned and operated by Steve and Doris Colgate. Their dedication to delivering the very best sailing education, in environments that make learning fun and rewarding, keep all of us at Offshore Sailing School passionately engaged. No other sailing school in the world has leaders with such vast experience in sailing and sailing education, or such dedicated employees at all levels in the company, making Offshore Sailing School lessons and programs “amazing” experiences, according to so many student testimonials. Steve Colgate and Doris Colgate, both National Sailing Hall of Fame Inductees, are the inspiration and driving force behind Offshore Sailing School’s very high standards and exceptional reputation.
Offshore Sailing School is the 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. Fast forward 60 years later, Steve is inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame for his incredible racing career and leadership in sailing education.
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 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, 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.
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 the most popular getaway in Florida, the British Virgin Islands, and other U.S. and world-wide locations. More than 160,000 adult graduates and their families have developed new skills and confidence with Offshore Sailing School since 1964. The Colgates are so 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.
Olympian, America’s Cup sailor and National Sailing Hall of Famer, Steve Colgate, is the “knowledge” behind all Offshore Sailing School courses. His best practices for teaching sailing, the curriculum he developed for every course, and teaching aides and comprehensive textbooks written by the Colgates are just some of the many reasons why Offshore Sailing School is recognized as America’s #1 Sailing School®.
A fifth and most important reason is our impressive sailing school faculty – highly skilled professional men and women who are lauded for their knowledge, experience, and teaching abilities – all passionately dedicated to your success.
Ask any college professor, pilot or engineer and they will describe the proven methods for learning any skill are parallel to how you learn sailing at Offshore Sailing School.
VISUAL – Comprehensive, easy-to-read textbooks sent in advance to study, plus an Online Learn to Sail Course that complements the Learn to Sail Course textbook if you are just starting out
AUDITORY – Classroom sessions that precede on-water training session to reinforce textbooks
TACTILE – Extensive on-water instruction that allows you to practice hands-on what you read in textbooks and studied in the classroom
Teachers and college professors laud our textbooks, teaching methods and curricula. Buyers beware! Many sailing schools cut corners and don’t cover all you need to know to learn sailing. If they boast “no classroom instruction” you are missing out on some of the most crucial aspects of learning. At Offshore we reinforce everything you do on the water with textbooks sent in advance to study, in-depth delivery of knowledge in the classroom, and then hands-on training aboard each day. In live aboard cruising courses, there is a classroom session each morning aboard before you set sail.