The Maryland School of Sailing & Seamanship

Hans “Jochen” Hoffmann holds a USCG 100 Ton Ocean Master's license and ASA Instructor certifications. After a one-year stint on a commercial freighter during his youth, his careers in college teaching and at the U.S. State Department only delayed his "true calling." Since his teenage years, Jochen has sailed either on his own or chartered cruising boats, or as volunteer or professional crew on tall ships (schooners, brigantines). An alumnus of the Maryland School's ocean training program, Jochen has accumulated over 25,000 sea miles on the Atlantic, in European waters and off the California coast. His sail training voyages have ranged from Canada to Florida, Bermuda, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Channel Islands off California. He is currently a rotating captain of the 62’ schooner American Spirit, for the National Maritime Heritage Foundation, Washington, DC. Jochen holds advanced degrees in German language and literature and counts celestial navigation among his hobbies. He teaches all ASA levels at our School.