Cape Horn Trophy

19 May 2025

Cape Horn Trophy

On Saturday May 17th, Captain Maarten de Jong received the official Cape Horn Trophy from the Mayor of the Dutch city Hoorn. During the festive ceremony, his crew was awarded a beautiful certificate. From now on, they may all proudly call themselves Cape Horn sailors!

In January and February of this year, Maarten and his crew sailed from New Zealand to the Falkland Islands – an impressive seven-week voyage at sea. To qualify for an official Cape Horn rounding, a vessel must sail (without the use of the engine) at least 3,000 nautical miles non-stop across open sea, crossing the 50th South in both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans – and of course – rounding Cape Horn along the way.

The Dutch Cape Horn Sailors Foundation evaluates these achievements and presents the corresponding awards. Unfortunately, the foundation will cease to exist this year, but the Enkhuizen Nautical College has kindly agreed to take over the evaluation of future Cape Horn roundings. For the ‘Oosterschelde’, this marks the third official Cape Horn rounding, following earlier voyages in 1998 and 2014.