Q&A with Doris Colgate, co-owner/CEO of Offshore Sailing School

Posted on 25 June 2009
Written by Beth Rosenberg

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Doris Colgate is the co-owner and CEO of Fort Myers, Fla.-based Offshore Sailing School, one of the oldest and most recognized schools in the industry. Colgate's first exposure to the school came when she took a course after joining the advertising department of Yachting magazine in 1967. She was hooked on sailing.

She joined the school full time as vice president in 1970 following her 1969 marriage to the school's founder, Steve Colgate. Doris Colgate was named president in 1978 and CEO in 2001.

Together, the Colgates have grown Offshore Sailing School from one branch, two instructors and two boats to an industry-respected school with seven locations, more than 40 boats, and 120,000-plus graduates.

In 1990, Colgate founded the National Women's Sailing Association to raise awareness of the sport among women and help them build confidence in their sailing abilities. That same year, she introduced You Can Sail Escapes at the school to provide all-women training programs. In 1991, she launched AdventureSail, a mentoring program for at-risk girls. In 1997, Colgate established the Women's Sailing Foundation, a not-for-profit group dedicated to enhancing the lives of women and girls through education and access to sailing.

Named to several Who's Who lists, including Who's Who of America and Who's Who of American Women, Colgate, 68, received the Betty Cook Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award from Boating magazine and International Women in Boating in 1994. Two years later, she and her husband were honored with the Sail magazine Industry Award for Leadership.

In 2003, US Sailing awarded the Colgates the Timothea Larr Trophy in recognition of their leadership in the sport. A year later, Colgate received the Leadership in Women's Sailing Award from BoatU.S. and NWSA.

Colgate has served on the BoatU.S. National Advisory Council since 1997 and served as a board member of Sail America from 2000 to 2006. She currently serves on the group's marketing committee.

Colgate is the author of "Sailing: A Woman's Guide" and, with her husband, co-authored "Fast Track to Cruising."

The Colgates live in Fort Myers and together have sailed around the world to the Caribbean, French Riviera, the former Yugoslavia, Greece, Turkey, Tahiti and other destinations. The couple has competitively sailed in the Caribbean, Norway, Spain and around the United States, competing aboard their 54-foot ocean racer, Sleuth, and later when Steve Colgate co-helmed the maxi racer Nirvana.