Offshore High: Steve and Doris Colgate and Offshore Sailing School

In the realms of both the marine industry and competitive sailboat racing at its highest levels, few if any couples have matched the accomplishments of Steve and Doris Colgate, the longtime proprietors of the world-renowned Offshore Sailing School: With over 150,000 graduates, no one has taught more willing novices how to sail than Offshore. A scion of the Colgate family of Colgate-Palmolive fame, and the daughter of a famed, award-winning scientist, respectively, at first glance the Colgates seemed an unlikely match. But when their singular talents merged after a chance meeting—Steve was a natural teacher with a world-class sailing background; Doris had an innate knack for business and the soul of an entrepreneur—they forged a bond that was nothing less than historic. An inductee into the National Sailing Hall of Fame, Steve competed in the sport's most prestigious regattas: the Olympics, the America's Cup trials and multiple Grand Prix offshore-racing campaigns. The founder of the National Women's Sailing Association, among other yachting-industry initiatives, on countless fronts Doris was a pioneer in a world usually dominated by men. Their shared tale is fascinating on several levels: as an insider's take on yacht racing at its top ranks; as a case study in a remarkably unique and successful business; and, finally, as a good old-fashioned love story.

“At its heart, Offshore High is an inspirational book about the power of love between two people who'd go on to become rock stars of sailing, and the iconic sailing school they built." Bernadette Bernon, best-selling author, and Editorial Director of BoatU.S. Magazine

"Herb McCormick's new book, Offshore High, is enchanting. At once a biography of sailing pioneers Steve and Doris Colgate, it's also a fascinating panoramic of the sailing industry during its formative years. “ John Kretschmer, author of Sailing to the Edge of Time and Sailing a Serious Ocean

"Offshore High could almost be a manual for how to work together as a couple, yet retain your own identity. Herb McCormick not only had me immediately caught up in the story of two people who encouraged thousands to get out sailing, but put their lives and accomplishments in context. I've met the Colgates, now I finally feel I know them.” Lin Pardey, author of Cruising in Seraffyn and Bull Canyon

“The Colgates: Quiet team on the outside, fireballs on the inside!” Peter Harken. Co-founder and Chairman, Harken

“To read the full arc of Steve's massively impressive racing career, Doris's breakthrough entrepreneurial women-empowering achievements and their combined blood, sweat and tears to build and constantly innovate Offshore Sailing School is inspirational and makes me pine for the glory days of yacht racing and the marine industry.” Linda Lindquist-Bishop, COURAGEOUS THINKING INC.

“Herb McCormick takes you on an amazing journey around the world; harrowing transatlantic crossings, the tragic 1979 Fastnet race along with some of the most beautiful locations on earth. You will experience what's it's like to sail in the Olympics or the America's Cup. Each journey is helmed by Steve Colgate who started as a "human bilge pump" and became one of the world's best. Whether you are a world class sailor or never set foot on a sloop, you will love this story.” Larry Antonucci, M.D., M.B.A., President, Lee Health

An award-winning sailing journalist, and avid inshore and offshore cruising and racing sailor, Herb McCormick is the former editor-in-chief of Cruising World magazine and yachting correspondent for The New York Times. He's written five sailing books, including As Long As It's Fun, the biography of voyaging icons Lin and Larry Pardey, and One Island, One Ocean, a first-person account of the Around the America's Expedition, a voyage around North and South America via the Northwest Passage and Cape Horn. A graduate of Williams College, where he captained the football team, he lives on the island where he was born and raised, in downtown Newport, RI.