Invited skippers will race 11MODs for the 2026 Türkiye Match Race title

This race should not be read as a two-day championship alone. Within a month, Marmaris will host two separate match race events: the Turkish leg of the European Match Race Tour, and the national championship on the Turkish Sailing Federation calendar. The organising club for both is Datça Yacht Sport Club, and the same 11MOD fleet will be used at both.

Match racing is not new in Türkiye. We have seen the format for years at a range of events, from the races sailed in Platu 25s at Istanbul Sailing Club’s Presidential Cup to the TAYK–Eker Olympos Regatta and the J/70 matches in Çeşme.

What makes 2026 different is the status of the race. This time it appears on the Turkish Sailing Federation calendar as the Türkiye Match Race Championship. The Federation’s 2026 Policy Decisions, in the section on race names, state that national title names such as “Turkish Championship” may only be used at events organised by the Federation, and that clubs and class committees need the Federation’s written permission to use them. That puts the Marmaris event somewhere different from the club trophies of recent years, or from match race series run inside a regatta programme.

Match racing has been sailed in Türkiye for a long time, but it matters that the format now enters the calendar under a national championship title of its own. A national championship does more than crown that year’s winner. Racing regularly in the same format also creates a more visible path for new skippers to come through and move on to international events.

Two races in Marmaris, the same structure

About a month before the championship, on 17–20 September, the Turkish leg of the European Match Race Tour will again be held in Marmaris, at Albatros Marina. The club will organise the tour in September with the 11MOD fleet, and about a month later the same marina and the same boat class will be used for the Türkiye Match Race Championship.

This continuity matters. Developing match racing in Türkiye takes more than new notices of race. It also takes organising teams who know the format, an available one-design fleet, and a structure where the same boats can be raced again and again. Holding an international tour and then a national championship in the same place within a month is a start in exactly that direction: two things we want to see more of in Türkiye, one-design racing and match racing, are beginning to build on each other in one place.

Why are one-design and match race important?

In one-design boats, the goal is to take boat differences out of the equation as much as possible: the same class, the same dimensions, similar equipment. The difference more visibly comes from the crew.

Match racing sharpens this further. Only two boats race at a time, and the start, boat handling, timing, reading the opponent, tactical decisions and manoeuvring all come into direct contact.

When we look at the classes and racing formats in which Türkiye is able to produce results on the international stage, we see that one-design racing is taking up more and more space. Match racing is one of the most competitive extensions of this. Having a strong fleet in yacht racing is one thing; it is quite another area of development for athletes to compete more in short racing formats, in standard boats, and in one-on-one competition.

How will the race work?

The first stage in Marmaris will be a round robin. Each invited skipper will face all the others once. At the end of that stage, the top four go through to the semi-finals. The skipper who tops the round robin will choose their own semi-final opponent.

The semi-finals will be sailed as best of three. The losing teams will race for third place. In the final, the first skipper to three wins becomes the 2026 Türkiye Match Race Champion.

Boats will change between rounds

The teams do not bring their own boats. The boats change between rounds, and the mainsail, jib and spinnakers are standard.

So a round robin schedule has to settle more than “who races whom?”. Which team races when, the port and starboard allocation, how many matches they sail back to back, waiting times and boat changes are all part of it.

The study by Craig Macdonald, Ciaran McCreesh, Alice Miller and Patrick Prosser on match race scheduling examines this planning through 13 priority criteria. The aim is to make sure everyone meets everyone else once while balancing the side allocation, keeping each team’s schedule reasonable, and minimising boat changes as far as possible.

From the shore you see two boats racing. Behind it runs another schedule, one that also works out which team moves into which boat, and when.

This is also where the one-design aspect is most clearly seen. One team can hand over the boat they used in one round to their opponent in the next round. The same class, the same course, the same racing format; all that remains is the difference made by the teams.

The results might not stay in Marmaris

An application for World Sailing Grade 3 status is also planned. If it is approved, the results in Marmaris will count towards the international match race rankings of the skippers taking part, as well as towards the national title.

A race held in Türkiye connecting to the World Sailing rankings also matters for the skippers racing here as they move on to international events.

It is hard to say at this point whether this structure will become permanent. But the use of the same club, the same fleet, and the same marina in two important match race events at short intervals is worth following.

Now it is the skippers' turn

Participation is by invitation only. Each team will consist of four or five people including the skipper, and the total team weight cannot exceed 430 kilograms. Turkish competitors must have a valid federation license, and all participants must have a World Sailing Sailor ID.

The 2025–2028 Racing Rules of Sailing will apply, together with Appendix C for match racing and the World Sailing Match Racing Call Book.

The programme opens on 14 October with registration and practice. The skippers’ briefing and the first races follow on 15 October. On 16 October the racing finishes and the 2026 Türkiye Match Race Champion is decided.

The most important piece still missing is the invitation list. The organisers will invite up to eight skippers. So who will they be?

Rüzgar Üstü will be following it.