Colgate 26 Sailboats, a Sailing School's Own Design Company

Teachers who wanted a better boat

The Colgate name belongs to people, not a plant. Steve and Doris Colgate opened Offshore Sailing School in 1964 and for more than three decades put students in Solings. Steve, who had raced in the Olympics and the America's Cup, eventually decided the Soling was the wrong tool: it could sink, and instructors had to balance on the aft deck.

So he wrote a specification of his own and took it to naval architect Jim Taylor, known for designs ranging from Sabre cruisers to racer-cruisers of the 1990s. The brief demanded a boat that would stay afloat when swamped, keep students secure and give the instructor a safe place to stand, all while meeting the school's insurance requirements. Steve's argument was that a boat good enough for his insurers would satisfy any private owner or fleet.

A design that moves between yards

Owning a design instead of a factory has meant a series of builders. Precision Boat Works in Florida produced the first boats until, as Steve Colgate told SAIL, it stopped in 2008. From 2020 Sailboatdata credits Waterline Systems of Rhode Island with construction. Then in 2024 SAIL reported a deal with Tartan Yachts in Ohio to build updated boats at $87,500 sail-away.

The class website still shows that Tartan offer, yet its home page now invites a new owner to take over the molds and carry the design forward. A new boat is therefore possible but not assured, and most sales happen secondhand.

Academies, colleges and a famous rescue

Sailing World made the Colgate 26 a Boat of the Year, and institutional buyers followed. The U.S. Naval Academy adopted it as the Navy 26, and the Coast Guard Academy, Maine Maritime Academy and Eckerd College have also used it. During a 1999 outing in Chicago Harbor, a trio of the school's students aboard one rescued two hypothermic mariners, earning US Sailing's Arthur B. Hanson Rescue Medal.

Steve Colgate puts the active fleet above 380 boats, close to the 375 listed by Sailboatdata. Our model page on the Colgate 26 covers its dimensions, rig, handling and price range in detail.

Buying a former school or academy boat

Many used Colgates spent years teaching beginners, so condition varies more than age would suggest. Sails, the asymmetrical spinnaker upgrade, deck condition and the trailer have the biggest effect on value.

• Keel bolts and the hull-to-keel joint.
• Corrosion at the hinged mast step and chainplates.
• Training dings on the transom and topsides.
• Soft spots in the deck and slop in the rudder.