Colgate 26 Sailboat, the Unsinkable Trainer Explained

Why the Colgate 26 exists at all

The Colgate 26 was born out of frustration. Steve and Doris Colgate's Offshore Sailing School taught thousands of students in a pair of Solings, an Olympic keelboat the school used from 1964 until 1996. Steve told SAIL magazine that by then they were tired of the Soling's flaws as a teaching platform, not least its ability to sink and the way instructors had to stand on the aft deck, which sometimes meant they went swimming. Steve Colgate, an Olympic and America's Cup sailor, wanted a boat that would forgive beginners, keep instructors aboard and still be rewarding to race.

Unable to find one, he teamed with naval architect Jim Taylor, whose work ranges from Sabre cruising boats to a run of successful 1990s 40-foot racer-cruisers. The result, launched in 1996, was the Colgate 26: a 25-foot 8-inch fractional sloop with positive foam flotation, a deep self-bailing cockpit and a bulb keel. Colgate insisted it meet Offshore Sailing School's insurance requirements, which he said would meet or exceed any standard an individual or fleet owner would set.

The Navy 26 and the academy fleets

The design quickly caught the eye of the U.S. Naval Academy, which chose it to update its training boats for midshipmen. Sailing World notes that the Colgate 26 has served as an official training vessel at both the Naval and Coast Guard academies and is known in Annapolis as the Navy 26, the boat of the academy's Colgate racing fleet. Maine Maritime Academy and Eckerd College also adopted it, according to SAIL.

Despite that institutional résumé, most boats are privately owned. Steve Colgate told SAIL in 2024 that there are over 380 boats out there and that a good training boat is also a good boat for teaching the grandkids to sail. Sailboatdata lists 375 built. Either way, this is a small, close-knit class rather than a mass-market design.

The numbers behind the hull

On paper the Colgate 26 is a light, stiff sport boat. Sailboatdata lists 25 feet 8 inches overall, 20 feet on the waterline, an 8-foot 6-inch beam, 2,600 pounds displacement and 1,050 pounds of lead ballast in a bulb on a 4-foot 6-inch fin. A shoal version draws 3 feet 6 inches and carries 1,250 pounds of ballast for 2,800 pounds total. Reported sail area is 338 square feet; sailboatdata notes that before 2005 the figure was given as 283 square feet.

Those numbers translate into a sail area to displacement ratio of about 28.7 and a ballast ratio of about 40 percent, which is lively but stiff, and a displacement to length ratio of about 145, firmly in light-displacement territory. The capsize screening value of 2.48 and comfort ratio of 10.7 are reminders that this is a daysailer and buoy racer, not an offshore boat. Hull speed works out to roughly 6 knots, though like most light boats with a big spinnaker it will exceed that off the wind.

• LOA 25 ft 8 in, LWL 20 ft, beam 8 ft 6 in
• Draft 4 ft 6 in standard, 3 ft 6 in shoal
• Displacement 2,600 lb, ballast 1,050 lb lead (standard keel)
• Sail area 338 sq ft; asymmetrical package quoted at 782 sq ft with the kite
• Keel bolted with eight 1/2-inch stainless bolts

A cockpit designed around the instructor

The genius of the Colgate 26 is in the cockpit. Instructors stand aft behind the traveler, where they can ease the mainsheet quickly if needed while students steer, trim and handle the boat. A solid vang keeps the boom from dropping on anyone's head when the mainsail is lowered, and the transom sits only inches above the water, which makes retrieving a person in the water far easier than on a typical keelboat. The cockpit and the port and starboard seat lockers are self-bailing.

That rescue-friendly design has a real story attached. According to the class website, in 1999 three Offshore Sailing School students sailing a Colgate 26 rescued two hypothermic mariners in Chicago Harbor and received US Sailing's Arthur B. Hanson Rescue Medal.

Rig, deck gear and the small cuddy

The sail-away package described on the class website includes an anodized aluminum mast and boom on a hinged mast step for easy rigging, a Harken roller-furling jib, two Harken number 20 self-tailing winches, five rope clutches, a traveler with a 4:1 mainsheet, a spinnaker pole with lift and foreguy, and a stainless bow pulpit with lifelines. Sails include a main, jib and symmetrical spinnaker; an asymmetrical spinnaker and pole are offered as an upgrade.

Below is a simple cuddy with V-berths, two quarter berths, an insulated ice chest and a portable head. It is fine for changing, stowing gear and the odd overnight, but nobody should mistake it for a pocket cruiser. Power is a small outboard on a transom bracket; the class literature lists the bracket but no specific motor.

Who built it, and who builds it now

For years Precision Boat Works in Florida built the Colgate 26, but Steve Colgate told SAIL that Precision stopped producing it in 2008. Sailboatdata lists Waterline Systems as the builder from 2020. In 2024 SAIL reported that the molds were with Steve Colgate and that new boats would be built by Tartan Yachts in Painesville, Ohio, updated with an asymmetrical spinnaker and a new pole while keeping the fundamental design. SAIL listed a sail-away price of $87,500.

The current class website still advertises that Tartan-built sail-away package, but its home page also says the Colgate 26 molds are now available for a new owner to take the design forward. In practice that means a new boat is possible but not a sure thing, and most buyers will be shopping the used market.

Buying a used Colgate 26

Most used Colgate 26s come from three pools: private owners, sailing schools and military or academy fleets. School and academy boats can be bargains, but they have usually been sailed hard by beginners, so expect gelcoat damage, worn hardware and tired sails. Privately owned boats often have newer sails and better upkeep. Our estimate for typical asking prices is $12,000 to $40,000, with sails and trailer condition explaining much of the spread.

Ownership is cheap by keelboat standards. Budget about $2,500 to $6,500 a year for a mooring or dry sail spot, insurance, a small outboard, bottom work and sail replacement spread over time. Owners who want to race should check local fleet activity first; the boat shines in one-design competition but has a small national footprint.