OFFSHORE SAILING SCHOOL FORGES AGREEMENT WITH TARTAN YACHTS TO BUILD COLGATE 26 SAILBOATS

Fort Myers, Fla (June 17, 2024) – Steve Colgate, founder and Chairman of Offshore Sailing School, is pleased to announce that, after a long search for a new builder for the popular Colgate 26 keelboat, Tartan Yachts of Painesville, Ohio has been selected.

Known as “A Boat for All Reasons,” the Colgate 26 is designed by renowned naval architect Jim Taylor and Olympic and America’s Cup sailor Steve Colgate who mandated that it be fast, fun, safe and unsinkable with big boat characteristics that make it easy to transition to larger boats.

The Colgate 26 was awarded Boat of the Year in the Pocket Cruiser Division by Cruising World magazine the year it debuted. A great boat for round the buoy racing, the Colgate 26 is also popular for individual and family daysailing and is used for teaching sailing fundamentals and racing techniques at many sailing schools including Offshore Sailing School. The US Naval Academy has 42 Colgate 26s, which they call the Navy 26, in its fleet.

“Owners rave about how easy it is to care for this boat and how much fun it is to sail,” says Steve Colgate. “It’s unusual for a customer to tell a vendor his advertising is absolutely true,” wrote Joe Silverberg of Madison, Wisconsin. “The Colgate 26 is a joy to sail! It handles well in all wind and wave conditions, and all points of sail. It’s a comfortable, stable, easy to sail daysailer and a fast sophisticated racer,” Silverberg continued.

A new Colgate 26 built by Tartan Yachts can be delivered four months after order is placed, with an introductory ready-to-sail price of $87,500, including main, jib and spinnaker.  There are also optional extras available including a new asymmetrical sail kit.

Offshore Sailing School, headquartered in Ft. Myers, FL, was founded in 1964 by Olympian, America’s Cup Sailor and National Sailing Hall of Fame Inductee, Steve Colgate. The school sells the Colgate 26 and provides a full range of sailing and boating instruction with US Sailing certification – from beginning sailing and cruising to racing, advanced cruising, and passage making – at six locations in Florida and the British Virgin Islands.
​
For hi-res images and more information visit Colgate26.com and contact Steve Colgate at 239-218-0471, [email protected].