Over the generations, various institutions have taken up the cause and awarded the honours for extraordinary achievements in ocean sailing, which are little noticed by outsiders. What they are and how they are awarded.
The SKWB and the ocean sailing evening in Bremen
The sailing association "Das Wappen von Bremen" is the oldest organisation of its kind in Germany and has been promoting ocean sports by awarding various prizes since it was founded in 1934.
First awarded in 1937, the Golden Compass is the oldest German ocean sailing prize. Since the end of the Schlimbach Prize in 2004, it has been recognised as the most important award of its kind. The Golden Compass is awarded for special sailing achievements on the North Sea, the Atlantic or other oceans.
The Silver globe goes to skippers of crew vessels for outstanding voyages on the open sea. Otherwise, the award criteria for this prize are deliberately kept open.
The Tanja Cupalso known as the Magnus Müller Memorial Prize, was established in 1951 by Ernst Burmester, the owner of the Burmester shipyard on the Lesum at the time, and friends in memory of his son-in-law Magnus Müller, who died in an accident in the same year, as a travelling prize for outstanding sailing and nautical achievements. The competition was deliberately kept general and not tailored to a specific type of voyage. "Tanja" was the name of the yacht sailed by Magnus Müller.
For the Franz Perlia Seafaring Prize for Young People The aim is to recognise the best voyage of a youth crew in terms of seamanship, sailing, navigation and camaraderie. This can also be accompanied by adults.
The Rolf Schmidt Memorial Prize was donated by the Schmidt family in 1978 in memory of the long-time chairman of the SKWB, Rolf Schmidt, who died in 1977 and was a multiple prizewinner in ocean races and long-distance sailing. The prize is awarded to the best yacht in the ORCi I, II and ORCc I, II classes in the "Rund Helgoland", "Helgoländer Acht" and "Rund Skagen" regattas as part of the North Sea Week and the "Welcome Race" at Kieler Woche.
Honours at the offshore sailing evening in Bremen's town hall
The prizes are awarded at the traditional offshore sailing evening in Bremen's town hall. Around 300 sailors and representatives from politics and business are regularly invited to this event. On this occasion, the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen itself also awards its annual Key price for top performance in ocean racing. The prize is awarded to the best ocean-going yacht flying the German flag for an outstanding performance in regattas starting or finishing abroad in the opinion of the prize committee. The prize committee consists of the Senator for Science and Ports of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, the chairman of the Bremen State Sports Association, the chairman of the Bremen Sailing Association and the sailing master and chairman of the sailing association "Das Wappen von Bremen".
Awarding of the SKWB prizes
Until the autumn of each year, sailors with interesting voyages can apply for the Golden Compass, the Tanja Cup, the Silver Globe and the Franz Perlia Memorial Prize for Youth, among others. The awards recognise exceptional and well-prepared and executed ocean voyages. However, the teams of special voyages in the North Sea and Baltic Sea as well as youth voyages will also be considered.
Questions, applications and informal proposals (ship data, crew data with age and function, skipper/owner, ports of departure, destination and stage ports with distances and data, including a short report on weather and special incidents) can be sent by email to hochseeseglerpreise@skwb.de be sent to. The closing date for entries is 1 September.
Trans Ocean has been promoting ocean sailing since 1968
The Trans Ocean (pronounced like the German word Ozean) Verein zur Förderung des Hochseesegelns e.V. was founded in the turbulent times of the 1968s as a counter-draft to the established association system and dedicated itself to the targeted, also financial promotion of ocean sailing.
The Trans-Ocean price has been awarded since 1970 for the voyage that was completed in the 12 months prior to the awarding of the prize and that is considered to be the most significant from the club's point of view. If no voyage has taken place that is deemed worthy of the prize, the Trans-Ocean Prize can also be awarded for a lifetime sailing achievement. Since the end of the Schlimbach Prize in 2004, it has been recognised as the most important award of its kind alongside the SKWB's Golden Compass.
The Ocean Award is very open and can be awarded for special sailing and navigational achievements that are not recognised by the usual awards, as well as for organisational and supportive achievements or exceptional relief actions that have been provided to sailors in need or that sailors have provided. The prize can be awarded to individuals, teams or institutions, is not tied to membership of the TO and is expressly intended as an international prize.
The Trans-Ocean Medal is awarded to TO members for voyages completed in the 12 months prior to the awarding of the prize and which are recognised as special sailing achievements.
The World Circumnavigator Award is awarded to TO members for a successfully completed circumnavigation.
For circumnavigations whose port of departure and destination was Cuxhaven, the glass ball beacon awarded.
The Silver ball beacon is awarded to a yacht whose voyage ends in Cuxhaven after a non-stop voyage of at least 2,500 nautical miles.
With the Prize of the City of Cuxhaven crews who moored in Cuxhaven on the outward and return voyages of their circumnavigation are honoured.
The Race Award (formerly Pewter cup) is awarded for special achievements / successes at regattas.
Bobby Schenk Cape Horn Award
A year ago, the circumnavigator and author known as the Blue Water Pope established a new prize for ocean sailors in the form of the Cape Horn Award. Anyone who circumnavigates the Cape without interruption between Rio Grande and the islands south of the Strait of Magellan is eligible for nomination. This means 54°30' south on one side of South America and 54°30' south on the other side of the continent. In between, the focus is on the challenge of offshore sailing: for the approximately 450 nautical miles long route, coastal sailing in the protection of the islands is therefore excluded in the award guidelines.
The upper limit for yachts that are eligible is 80 feet, just over 24 metres. Donor Schenk also stipulated that nominees with smaller boats, smaller crews, older crews or those sailing in more difficult conditions should be given preferential consideration when awarding the prize.
The Bobby Schenk Cape Horn Award is a travelling prize for international sailors. It was first awarded by Trans Ocean in 2023. Which institution will award the prize this year is yet to be announced by the founder.
German Offshore Award
Since 2008, a jury made up of representatives of Hamburg's major sailing clubs and chaired by the Hamburg Sailing Association has awarded the prize of honour of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg annually for the best German ocean-going yacht of the previous season at international regattas.
The selection is based on a formula that takes into account various factors such as the difficulty of the regatta, the number of yachts entered, the weather and wind conditions and the result in the overall classification. Decisive factors in the ranking are the length of the regatta course in nautical miles and the number of competitors.
The award categories are the German Offshore Award for the best German ocean-going yacht of the past season, the Lifetime Award for a person's lifetime achievement in sailing or other outstanding achievement of the person and the Wehring & Wolfe's Youth Prize for successful youth work.
Commodore Cup
The one from the Hamburg Foundation for Ocean Sailing The aim of the prize is to incentivise sailing clubs to enable young people to sail on the high seas. It is actively sailed by young people at the Commodore Cup, which is organised every year at the end of the season, and consists of a grant that is earmarked for the club of the first-placed yacht.
The cup is organised by the cross-club initiative Offshore-Youngsters. All interested young sailors can find out more about taking part here.
