Raccoon Sailing

Rakun Sailing is a sailing and yachting training outfit set up in 2025 by the instructor and skipper Faruk Aydın. Working out of Turgutreis D-Marin, it runs sailing and yachting courses, race training and boat deliveries.

The courses do not run on a fixed fleet but on different boats and different seas. Faruk Aydın spends about 40 weeks of the year at sea, so most of the programme is built on real passage conditions.

The levels range from basic sailing and yachting courses for beginners to race training for those who want to get better at racing. When there is room on a suitable delivery trip, students are taken along on the passage, and no charge is made for it.

The way Rakun Sailing works does not quite fit the classic sailing school mould. Instead of a fixed fleet and an unchanging lesson calendar, there are three main headings shaped around what is needed: boat charter, one-to-one training and delivery passages. All three are planned out of Turgutreis D-Marin; if the weather and the schedule allow, they run along the Bodrum peninsula, Gökova and the surrounding bays.

How the charter works

Charter can also be booked separately from any training. For a group whose only aim is to get out on the water, a skippered charter is preferred: on such a trip Faruk Aydın runs the boat and the guests take the helm as much as they like. For crews with previous sailing experience who want to sail on their own, the boat is handed over once the crew’s licence and experience have been assessed. The route is not sold as a fixed package; it is decided together according to the wind forecast for the day of departure. That is why two different groups can end up with two different programmes on the same day.

Who one-to-one training is for

Learning in a crowded group does not suit everyone. Some people complain about waiting their turn at the helm, others about feeling shy of asking questions. This is exactly where one-to-one training comes in: alone with the instructor, working on a single subject. You can, for instance, work only on manoeuvres and harbour approaches, or take one single topic such as sail trim, reading the wind or night sailing and spread it over a day.

It is also a format often requested by people who hold a licence but have not been on a boat for years. In that case the programme is not built like training from scratch; the forgotten parts are gone over and it moves straight back to practice. People who are about to take a specific role in a race (pit, trimmer, bowman) can also ask for dedicated work on their own position.

Boat deliveries and joining a passage

A significant part of Rakun Sailing’s work is boat delivery. Taking a boat to the harbour where it is being handed over, or to its winter berth, is usually far longer and far more instructive than a day sail. Things like watch systems, night sailing, fuel and water planning and following a weather window can only really be learned on a passage like that.

So when there is room on board on a suitable delivery, students are taken along on the passage and no extra charge is made. The number of places depends both on how many berths the boat has and on the character of that particular passage; instead of a planned list of dates, trips are announced as the work comes up. The most practical way to follow them is the Instagram account and simply asking by phone.

The same person runs all of these: Faruk Aydin. You can read the interview where he explains how he works and why he has not set up a fixed fleet here . To compare other schools in the region, take a look at the list of sailing schools .