The Navy Cup, which once finished in Gölcük, brought 35 boats together on the Tuzla course in its 66th year

The Navy Cup Yacht Race, organised by İstanbul Yelken Kulübü under the auspices of the Turkish Sailing Federation, was sailed for the 66th time. The seventh leg of the club’s Yacht Trophy brought 35 boats to the start line on Saturday 26 September in the ORC A, B, C, D and Cruising classes. The start was given by Vice Admiral Ramazan Özoğul, Commander of the Northern Sea Area.

The sailors’ “Gölcük Race”

First held in 1960, the Navy Cup was known among sailors for many years as the “Gölcük Race”. The fleet started from Istanbul, sailed through the Gulf of İzmit to Gölcük, spent the night as guests of the Turkish Naval Forces Command and set off on the return leg to Istanbul the next morning. At its heart the race brought civilian sailors and naval officers together on the same course and at the same table.

Today that meeting continues in Tuzla. The fleet starts from Fenerbahçe, passes the Princes’ Islands, rounds the gate off the Naval Academy and finishes again at Fenerbahçe. The course of about 41 nautical miles keeps the length of the old Gölcük leg. The ORC D and Cruising classes race a course of about 24 miles rounding Balıkçı Island.

Close racing on the Tuzla course

The boats raced closely together all along the course.

In ORC A, STM Yelken Takımı-Hedef Yelken 40, helmed by Engin Özgen, finished first. Beymen Club Sailing Team-Atlas (Ahmet Köroğlu) was second and UrbanCare-7 Bela (Gürsel Öztürk) third.

In the 11-boat ORC B class, first place went to Bosch-Gemini Sailing Team, which started racing last August. The team raced on Zacapa, helmed by experienced skipper Selim Kakış. Logo Yelken Takımı-Logo (Onur Bilgen) was second and Code Zero Sailing Team-Code Zero (Burak Cora) third.

In ORC C, Lexus Sailing Team-Be Blue finished first with Berkcan Arat at the helm. Nordex-CTD-Electron (Kürşad Ekmekçi) was second and Anadolu Hayat Emeklilik-CTD-Pupa (Bartu Özsoy) third.

J80 against J70 in ORC D

In the ORC D class on the short course, Bora Kabatepe won for İstanbul Yelken Kulübü on the J80 one-design Jerry. Kabatepe’s closest rival was Batu Özonur, who this month finished second in the world in the Young Crew category at the J/70 World Championship in Cascais with Marmara Yelken’s young team. Özonur placed second on the J70 one-design MAYK. Third place went to another J80, TSK Spor Gücü-DHO Deniz Kızı 17, helmed by Ömer Öztürk.

TSK Spor Gücü started with four boats

Sailors from the Navy, which gives the race its name, started with four boats. In the Cruising class, TSK Spor Gücü-DHO Akova won with helmsman Ömer Işık. In ORC D, DHO Deniz Kızı 17, helmed by Ömer Öztürk, finished third, while in ORC B DHO Arma, helmed by Muhammet Ali Şahin, finished ninth. The team’s ORC A boat, DHO Ariva, helmed by Acar Koparal, could not finish the race after an unfortunate accident in the opening minutes. In the Cruising class, Pupa Sailing Team-Hoppala (Mehmet Akif Poroy) was second and KoçZer Sailing Race Team-Kechi Mırmır (Süleyman Er) third.

Most of the fleet raced under a brand name

The Navy Cup entry list also shows how much yacht racing in Türkiye relies on corporate support. More than 20 of the 35 boats started under the name of a brand or institution. The list included STM and TUSAŞ from defence and aerospace, Lexus and Ford from automotive, Tüpraş and Nordex from energy, Eti and Lipton from food, Beymen, Skechers and e-Bebek from retail, and Anadolu Hayat Emeklilik from finance. Bosch, Logo and Çimsa were also among the brands seen in the fleet. Of the five class winners, three raced under a brand name, one under a club name and one for TSK Spor Gücü.

The trophy’s last race is at Heybeliada

One race remains in the eight-leg İYK Yacht Trophy. The trophy will conclude with the Heybeliada 1773 Cup on 14 November.

We send our best wishes to the CCN Holding-Agent and TSK Spor Gücü-DHO Ariva crews after the unfortunate accident in the opening minutes of the race, and to Agent’s helmsman Doğukan Kapıcıoğlu, who was injured in the accident.

Full results

ORC A (6 boats)

ORC B (11 boats)

ORC C (11 boats)

ORC D (4 boats)

Cruising (3 boats)

NSC means the boat did not sail the course in accordance with the rules.