Fast Track to Cruising: How to Go from Novice to Cruise-Ready in Seven Days

Learn how to handle a cruising sailboat in as little as seven days―even if you’ve never sailed before!

Who says you have to be an experienced daysailor before you can think about cruising? Steve and Doris Colgate know that most of us don’t have that kind of time. At the Offshore Sailing School, the Colgates have helped more than 100,000 adults―three-quarters of whom started as beginning sailors or complete newcomers--take the helm of a midsize cruising sailboat. Now Fast Track to Cruising offers these proven instructional methods to all aspiring sailors with big dreams and little time.

This is the very first guide that teaches sailing and cruising together, taking you from your first sail to independent cruising in one leap. You can make that leap in as little as seven days―as in the Colgates’ “Fast Track to Cruising” course―or you can get there at a more leisurely pace. Either way, no other book will take you from your first tacking or docking maneuver to a mastery of navigation and diesel engines as efficiently as this one.

"America's most experienced sailing instructors present a thorough and easy to understand look at cruising. Leisure time is precious. Safety is paramount. The Colgates will help you maximize your time on the water."--Gary Jobson, ESPN's lead sailing analyst and editor at large for Cruising World and Sailing World

“Doris and Steve Colgate understand that people want to reach their sailing goals as quickly as possible and they've built the excellent Fast Track program to accomplish it.”--Bernadette Bernon, former editorial director of Cruising World magazine

"Together Steve and Doris Colgate have been teaching beginners to sail for over half a century. In Fast Track to Cruising they have included every concept and procedure you need to get yourself from a want-to-be sailor to one who is knowledgeable and competent to take the helm--with confidence and a smile."--Charles Mason, Executive Editor, SAIL magazine

Doris Colgate is president and CEO of the Offshore Sailing School and founder of the National Women’s Sailing Association. The Offshore Sailing School operates from four Florida locations (Captiva Island; Ft. Myers Beach; St. Petersburg; and the Florida Keys) and from Chelsea Piers, New York City; Jersey City, NJ; St. Michaels, MD; and the British Virgin Islands. In 2003, US SAILING awarded the Colgates the Timothea Larr Trophy in recognition of their outstanding leadership and excellence in sailing education.

Steve Colgate founded the Offshore Sailing School in 1964. He has participated in two America's Cup trials, seventeen Newport–Bermuda races, seven Fastnet Races, the Pan American Games, the Olympics, and six transatlantic races. Doris Colgate is president of the Offshore Sailing School and founder of the National Women's Sailing Association. In 2003, US SAILING awarded the Colgates the Timothea Larr Trophy in recognition of their outstanding leadership and excellence in sailing education.