Hedef Yelken
Founded at Fenerbahçe Marina in 2009
Hedef Yelken was founded in 2009 by Levent Özgen and Yiğit Eroğlu. The school set out with a staff of five and four boats, based at Setur Fenerbahçe Marina. Today the company is run under the leadership of Efe Regay, with head coach Engin Özgen at the head of the racing department.
By the school’s own figures the staff has grown to thirty and the fleet to seventeen boats. Hedef Yelken describes itself as Türkiye’s first sailing school certified under TUYEP (the Turkish National Sailing Education Programme) with Ministry of Education and Turkish Sailing Federation approval, and states that it is an official training centre of the Turkish Sailing Federation.
Because of the refit that began at Fenerbahçe Marina, the school moved its courses to Küçükyalı as of May 2025. Its registered address is the Hedef Yelken ship, moored at the İBB Orhangazi City Park in Maltepe.
Quick profile
- Founded
- 2009
- Co-founders
- Levent Özgen · Yiğit Eroğlu · Engin Özgen
- City
- Istanbul · Maltepe
- Base
- Küçükyalı (Fenerbahçe Marina between 2009 and 2025)
- Headquarters
- The Hedef Yelken ship · İBB Orhangazi City Park
- Head coach
- Engin Özgen
- Head instructor
- Sefa Civelek
- Staff
- 30 people (their own figure)
- Fleet
- 17 boats (their own figure)
- Phone
- 0850 217 83 80
- iletisim@hedefyelken.com
- Website
- hedefyelken.com
- @hedefyelken
Which courses are offered
Target Hello
An introduction to sailing. A single session for people who have never been out on the water.
Headwind
Basic sailing course. Hands-on teaching of the wind, points of sail and manoeuvres on board.
Target Boat
Graded yacht courses: basic yachting, basic sailing yacht, advanced sailing yacht and preparation for heading south.
Amateur Sailor’s Licence
Practical licence training, offered through the school’s status as an official Turkish Sailing Federation training centre.
Yacht racing
Training and race programmes that prepare amateur sailors for the racing fleet.
High school and university programmes
High school programmes for ages 14–18, plus separate groups for university students.
Company programmes
Training, activity, racing and sponsorship packages for companies.
Hedef Charter
Day and liveaboard charters out of Istanbul, plus blue cruises on the southern routes.
Which boats it works with
Bolt 37 · Judel/Vrolijk 42R
The performance side of the fleet. Two big boats used in offshore and trophy racing.
Corby 29 · Didi 40cr
The Corby 29 takes on the short courses, while the Dudley Dix-designed Didi 40cr handles the long routes.
Bénéteau First 40 · Sun Odyssey 32i
The main boats for the yachting courses; manoeuvring, anchoring and navigation lessons are taught on these.
Aira 22 · First 8
The boats used for working with small crews in the basic sailing lessons.
Safety boat and the Hedef dinghy
The support craft that follow the fleet during courses and races.
The Hedef Yelken ship
Designed in 2010, this is the school’s floating headquarters. It has a capacity of thirty, a meeting room, changing rooms, showers and a galley; theory lessons and race viewing happen here.
The people running the school
Levent Özgen
Born in Istanbul in 1952. One of Türkiye’s first sailing coaches; he served for a time as national team coach. He still helms in yacht races.
Yiğit Eroğlu
Born in Istanbul in 1985. He started in the Laser class at Istanbul Yelken Kulübü in 1996. In 2005 he gained his RYA Yachtmaster Offshore in England, followed by the RYA YM Cruising Instructor qualification.
Engin Özgen
He heads the school’s racing department and coaches the teams made up of its students.
Sefa Civelek
He holds a D4 licence and heads the instructor team.
The instructors
Kaan Gündüz, Esmanur Alataş, Fatih Şenyüz and Muhammed Göktai are on the school’s instructor staff.
The races it organises
Hedef Yelken Bosphorus Regatta
A race held by Hedef Yelken Spor Kulübü on the Bosphorus in November 2019. According to the school, more than two hundred boats started, with VISA as sponsor.
Saint Michel Inter-School Sailing Races
An inter-school race held for eight years in partnership with Saint Michel Lisesi.
Stories where he is mentioned on Rüzgar Üstü
Stories mentioning Hedef Yelken will be listed here as they are published. The link will be built through the “Mentions” tag added to the stories.