Final Leg, Final Point: MIYC Winter Trophy Concludes

I'm in Marmaris for the MIYC Winter Trophy 6th leg races to be held on April 19-20.

We can say "summer has arrived" here now. Beyond those who live here year-round, tourists have increased. Beaches have started to fill up, and nights have become more colorful.

In this final leg, what concerns us is not the town's tourism density, but the wind that will affect the course during the 2 race days.

The wind is no different from the previous legs of the trophy. We don't even check meteorology websites out of stubbornness. Whatever comes our way. We'll see on the course.

APRIL 19, SATURDAY

This week the final point of the 2025 winter trophy will be placed. IRC-ORC and we've reached the end.

31 boats have registered. The familiar briefing begins in the morning in the club garden.

10:00 AM, chief umpire Ezgi Kalaycı has the microphone. A short speech, what's left to say anyway?

"We're entering the final leg with a slightly low wind and a few races short of what we planned.

We have 3 races planned. The wind is showing a bit low. I can't say 'Let's postpone to next week.' Because we need to resolve everything this week.

If we complete these three races as well, there may be discards."

THE INEVITABLE SOCIAL MEDIA

Kalaycı is making warnings about Social Media Posts for the first time.

"Posts that exceed their purpose may face sanctions from the federation, clubs, and protest committees.

I hope we complete all 3 races, I wish everyone success."

We see 31 boats registered, 30 boats on the course.

On the final leg, we see teams on the course that weren't present in previous legs:

VAMOS, EKİNOKS and İZMİR YELKEN.

GOOD NEWS: WE HAVE WIND

There's wind, it doesn't look like we'll be kept waiting this time. If only the direction would settle.

The wind is wavering between 140-165 degrees.

The race committee is waiting for the wind at the harbor entrance, north of Yalancı Boğaz.

The wind entering the harbor can occasionally shift direction in this area due to the geographical structure.

At 11:30, the weather settles. With an 8-knot wind blowing from 135 degrees, the committee announces the course for the first race of the final leg;

COURSE 5 from the MIYC courses.

ORC A-B classes cross the beautifully set starting line at 12:07.

After this start, the wind gradually increases in strength. It's climbed to 9-10 knots.

At 12:14, ORC C-D classes are also on the course.

All eyes are on the competition within the classes. Those in the upper positions of the group standings don't want to lose their place.

At times, we witness everyone racing against themselves. A fast race is unfolding.

There are wind direction changes on the turns, but nothing significant.

The wind varies between 7-17 knots depending on the position.

At the end of the day's first race;

The race committee announces the day's second race without delay.

The wind is blowing from 135 degrees at 12 knots.

COURSE 5 again.

The conditions of the first race apply to this one as well. The participants are cheerful, as if enjoying the sea, the sailing, and the wind.

As the day's second race is completed, ANYWAY, one of the competitive boats in ORC B class, cannot escape disqualification

when her spinnaker touches the flag on the race committee boat at the finish line.

According to the rules, the race committee boat is also like a mark. Touch it and you're burned.p>

The boat that realizes the infraction must make a penalty turn. Otherwise, the matter ends up in the protest room. If they deliberately didn't complete the penalty turn, it's impossible to discard this race in the throw-outs

not possible.

The protest committee decides that they were not aware.

At the end of the day's second race;

In the evening, there's virtually a regatta closing ceremony in the club garden. The race to be held on Sunday will determine the regatta results and trophies will be distributed, but the teams will disperse shortly.

Tonight there's even an orchestra on stage

.

After the 5th Leg awards find their owners, the celebration is at its peak. It continues until late hours.

APRIL 20 SUNDAY

Today I decided to do something I haven't done in a long time. I'm going out on the course with WIND RIDER, one of the ORC B class boats. Erol Algül is at the helm, and the crew generally

consists of sailors from Ankara.

They came from Ankara's frost to Marmaris's warmth. They're already 1-0 ahead.

They're racing in the middle ranks of their class, enjoying the experience.

With the wind blowing at 10-12 knots from 220 degrees, the race committee announced that a geographical course around Kargataşı Island would be sailed.

Just as the ORC A-B boats were about to cross the start line, the committee postponed. Because the wind was shifting over 30 degrees.

After the wind settled, all classes made their starts and began racing toward the turning mark. Later, the fleet entering the strait faced the well-known finish.p>

Wind forecasts based on position have begun. Those behind are learning from those ahead, but nothing seems to help.

Hoist the spinnaker, douse the spinnaker. One moment port tack, next moment starboard. Hoist the genoa, douse the genoa...

All teams are battling hard. Who has the advantage, who's at a disadvantage - it's impossible to tell.

The wind is all over the place... Just as we're saying "the fleet is in disarray," at 13:47 the committee announced the race was abandoned.

At the same time, they urgently called all boats back to the inner harbor, alongside them.

Engines fired up. This time the fleet motored back as if in a power boat race, alongside the committee boat.

Another race will be held.

The course has been prepared in advance and announced;

ROUTE 4 D from MIYC routes will be sailed. Wind is blowing from 250 degrees at 9-10 knots.

At 14:45 ORC A-B classes, at 14:52 ORC C-D classes are on the course.

The wind is not decreasing its strength, on the contrary, it's increasing.

At buoy roundings it even reaches 17 knots. Generally, spinnakers are struggling, control is diminishing, but the view is magnificent.

When completed in a manner befitting the final race of the 6-leg winter series;

The boats completing the race and returning ashore have their eyes on the results. Boats are gathering, preparations for departure are beginning. The trophy that continued throughout the winter will reach its final

point with the awards ceremony. If fortune wills, next year...

p>

When the overall results of the trophy were announced;

The award ceremony in the club garden was both cheerful and bittersweet.

One of those moments was marked by President Zafer Öznur's farewell speech.

With the general assembly to be held in the coming days, the flag will change hands here.

Health to those who labored, you gave us wonderful races and moments. We wish success and smooth sailing to the upcoming crew as well.

We also asked Chief Umpire Ezgi Kalaycı, who spared no effort for the successful and smooth completion of the Trophy, for her views.

EZGİ KALAYCI

(Chief Umpire)

"The 2025 Winter Trophy season was a very challenging season. This year we had difficulty finding wind on the weekends when our trophy was to be raced. Other than that, it was very good.

We have no missing races, we completed the races. When I look at the races we held, my conscience is clear. I think both the athletes and the organization are satisfied.

We organize the races for their satisfaction. Of course there are those who are not satisfied, with their courses, with their scores. But when we look at the overall picture, it's possible to see the satisfaction.

One of the challenging aspects of this year was the transition to the ORC system. I had some experience with this system in a few races before, but not this much. There were many questions and criticisms. But we're trying to do the best we can. We strive to do our best by researching, asking, and learning.

FOR THE RACERS

I've known the racers for years. They are all my elder brothers, elder sisters, siblings. I think the biggest problem is not reading - announcements, instructions, race rules or class rules,

handicap rules are not known.

They can't even fulfill the requirements to file a protest.

The reason for this is either not reading, the excitement during the race, or ambition. I can give many examples like this. I hope this changes.

Because we get upset too. Maybe they're right in their protest, but they can't get the desired result from the protest due to a rule they didn't fulfill, or it doesn't open. Even

when filling out the protest form or at the hearing, they can't express themselves.

This is a very big shortcoming. I hope these deficiencies will be completed as we move forward."

We asked the successful chairman, on the verge of passing the flag, about this trophy and the class he competed in.

ORC A

ZAFER ÖZNUR

(Farraway-Mıknatıs Yachting)

"We started the trophy this year with 6 legs. We planned a total of 18 races. We raced in all legs, 18 races took place.

Overall, the races were enjoyable. We raced in strong winds at times, light winds at times. In the end, there was no weather that upset or tired us. I am satisfied and happy with this year's trophy.

In our class, FARRAWAY, WINGS RACING started well. As the crews got used to it, things started to change.

p>

Some boats came to some races, some didn't. VAKKORAMA maintained first place, WINGS RACING maintained second place. We came in third.

Since the boats in the top group are very fast, their crews need to be good too. It doesn't tolerate any mistakes. With the slightest error, the rival boat takes advantage of it, and it becomes

difficult to recover."

ORC B

EROL ALGÜL

(Wind Rider)

"There were successful boats in our class in 6 legs. FLAYER, STREKOZA are boats that sail well. BURAN was added to these in the last 2 legs of the trophy. BURAN is also very good as a crew.

The trophy went well for us too. A trainee crew, a crew in the learning period. We were at the front at times, at the back at times. But we managed to stay in the middle.

Our rival within our group was the RUNNER boat. Same boats, similar crew structure.

We completed a successful, enjoyable trophy."

ORC C

TUNCA ÇALIŞKAN

(Omani)

"We've been coming here for 6 legs with great pleasure. The rivals in our group were very tough. In the early times, we couldn't catch the boats at the front. As the crew settled in,

we started to catch up.

The ORC system pushed us to compete more with each other. It was right to apply this system in these races. Our rivals were good, but we

were the winners.

The contribution of the organization and the referees' performance to the quality of the races is indisputable."

ORC D

BÜLENT ÇELİK

(İskorpit-UK Sail Lakers)

"The trophy started quite competitively. With the transition to the new system, everyone began to weigh up their rivals. After the third leg, things fell into place. The top three hardly

changed. In our group, Doğukan Kandemir took the cup. I congratulate him and his crew. The courses were set up beautifully. Technical aspects came to the forefront in the races.

Everyone is content and happy. We didn't have a single leg without racing. This is very valuable. The race committee conducted excellent races."

DOĞUKAN KANDEMİR

(Vmg-Carbotix)

"This year, the Miyc Winter Trophy transitioned to the ORC system. It was stressful for all of us in the beginning. But after a leg or two, everyone started to read the system and quite

competitive races ensued. We became the winners of the trophy in our class. We thank our sponsor Carbotix for their contribution."

The trophy also had an unsung hero. His eyes, ears, and hands were everywhere.

Endless thanks to Harika Keleş for the efforts you made to ensure the system ran flawlessly.

I started to write down what you did, but it didn't fit into lines. I deleted it. Those who know, know anyway. Congratulations.