For the record, the boat in question was actually hit amidships by a slighlty larger powerboat thought to be moving at more than 30 knots at the time. The colision sank the Colgate and swamped the powerboat.

Colgates are actually quite robust by modern standards. They are designed to take the abuse of being thrashed by sailing school students. The "1/4 to 1/3 inch thick" fiberglass topsides are actually quite robust for a boat of this size. For example the topsides of the venerably heavy Pearson Triton were only 3/8" thick (installed a vent in one back in the 1960''s)which is not that much more than the third of an inch topsides on the Colgate (.333 vs .375).

Boats like the Catalina 27 actually have thinner topsides than the boat in question. While early Columbias often had slightly thicker topsides than the boat in question, the use of chopped glass cores and the then common lamination techniques practiced by Columbia would suggest that the Colgate is probably equally robust.

Also for the record I neither own a Colgate 26 nor am I a big fan of the design but for other reasons.

Jeff