Offshore Sailing School Kicks Off 60th Anniversary Year with New Location, New Courses, Fleet Additions, New Colgate Sailing Adventures® Flotilla Vacations  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Fort Myers, Fla (DATE) October 10, 2023  Offshore Sailing School President and CEO, Doris Colgate, announced several major initiatives to kick off a year-long celebration of the company’s 60th Anniversary. “We’re hosting a media reception on the first night of the 2023 U.S. Sailboat Show in Annapolis, MD, on October 12, and this is the perfect opportunity to share our many exciting plans for the coming year ..read more

Leopard Catamaran Marketing Coordinator, Zoe Bell, recently completed Offshore Sailing School’s Fast Track to Live Aboard Cruising course in St. Petersburg. She had an amazing time and now feels so confident and competent to skipper a Leopard 45 catamaran. We love teaching sailing and receiving such wonderful feedback. Read Zoe’s Blog Post here. For more information on our courses, click here, and to view current specials, click here. Once you obtain your US Sailing Bareboat Cruising certification, you can apply for your International Proficiency Certificate which is required to charter in Med ..read more

On July 17, 2023, Offshore Sailing School’s current Controller, Dana Matthews, assumed the role and responsibilities of Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. “We are pleased to announce this executive move as part of our on-going development of new leadership roles as we head into Offshore Sailing School’s 60th year,” announced Offshore Sailing’s President and CEO, Doris Colgate. “With 30 years of experience in financial management, business leadership, and corporate strategy and growth, Dana has already made a lasting impact in helping us develop our team for substantial grow ..read more

By Heather Hild Atwater This was a BIG deal! Travel around the other side of the Earth to Thailand to see Phuket, experience the culture, and sail around the islands off East Phuket for ten days. Whoa, Nate and I were very excited to do this. Thailand and Phuket in particular, where this flotilla takes place, are both interesting and a little scary because it is so different from the United States in so many ways. On the surface, they drive on the other side of the road, they have not only a different language but an entirely different alphabet, they praise different Gods, their places of wors ..read more

Offshore Sailing School is the Official Sailing School of The Moorings and as such, our graduates receive an exclusive savings of up to 15% on their first charter with The Moorings. We have recently taken delivery of a new Lagoon 40 catamaran which will be based at our newest resort location, ‘Tween Waters Island Resort & Spa on Captiva Island, Florida. Lagoon 40 cabin The Lagoon, aptly named Hydro Therapy, joins our fleet with two Leopard 40 and 45s in St. Petersburg, Florida, and The Moorings 4500 that we sail from Scrub Island Resort, Spa & Marina in the British Virgin Islands. Wh ..read more

In March 2023, Steve and Doris Colgate were invited to speak with members of the Yale University Class of 1957 in a virtual gathering. Get a cocktail or glass of wine, sit back and relax, and listen to what Steve and Doris shared. Order and read Steve and Doris’ biography book, OFFSHORE High, written by Herb McCormick in October 2021. The book includes nearly 200 photos from their decades of sailing, leading Colgate Sailing Adventures® flotilla vacations, conducting racing programs, including Performance Race Week®, and campaigned their own yacht, Sleuth, all over the world. Read their biograp ..read more

Written by Elaine Lembo, Newport, Rhode Island-based journalist and Cruising World Editor-At-Large. Photo credits, Offshore Sailing School, Lin Pardey, photographer Dan Nerney, The Sailing Museum and the National Sailing Hall of Fame. A Conversation with Class Acts On the eve of their induction into the 2022 class of The National Sailing Hall of Fame, Doris Colgate and Lin Pardey take five from their busy, successful lives. Their silence is broken. After 45 years of running into each other at boat shows and uttering no more than a brief hello, Doris Colgate and Lin Pardey sit side by side on a ..read more

By Heather Hild Atwater Monday March 6-Monday March 13, 2023 This cruise, we were lucky to have three beautiful yachts: A Moorings 5000 with the upper deck, a Moorings 4500 also with the upper deck, and another Moorings 4500.  Skippers were Nate Atwater (Leader boat), John DiToro (sixth time sailing on a Flotilla with Offshore) and Jay Adler, a new skipper, second time on a flotilla with Offshore. The crews were a good mix of repeat flotilla participants and new to flotilla sailors. We had a great group of sailors who were all good team players, were flexible and had positive attitudes, a ..read more

Offshore Sailing School President and CEO, Doris Colgate, announced today that the company’s popular resort-based sailing courses will start March 1, 2023, at Tween Waters Island Resort & Spa on Captiva Island, Florida. “We’ve known and respected the owners and management of Tween Waters Island Resort for many years. Now our clients have the opportunity to enjoy all this destination resort has to offer while learning to sail or bareboat charter.” Colgate added, “Offshore Sailing School is thrilled to welcome visitors and residents back to Sanibel-Captiva Islands and support other businesse ..read more

November 5-13, 2022 By Heather Hild Atwater What made the start to this adventure different was that it was pouring rain day one during our boarding. Not just a sprinkle, but heavy rain, which we had never experienced before. Actually, the forecast looked like rain for several days… however, as you will read, this did not materialize, thank goodness. That evening, we enjoyed the Meet and Greet Dinner at the Mariner Yacht Club restaurant right near the boats. We kicked the trip off with Painkillers and Clive from the BVI Tourism Board welcomed our group to the islands. We all began to get to kn ..read more