Anyone know of any excellent turkish yachts?

What do the Turks know about building yachts? From what I have seen, when buying a yacht, you get exactly what you pay for in terms of quality.

your right, maybe the greatest Yacht of all...
The Maltese Falcon

I ran into this from an on line site date September, 2008:
"Dubai-based private equity firm Abraaj Capital has acquired a 50 per cent stake in Turkish luxury-yacht manufacturer Numarine, as global demand grows in the US$ 25 billion market for recreational boats. Abraaj, the largest private equity firm in the Middle East and North Africa, will partner Numarine Chief Executive Officer Omer Malaz, who founded the company in 2002."

What yachts do they produce in his price range and size of quality?

Hi everyone.

New to the Forum.

The secret of the Turkish yacht building is the extremely low cost of the man hour and some kind of wood. You may find very good prices for internal decoration, but must keep an eye in all other technical details.

This is the webpage of a good shipyard in Bodrum:

http://www.***************/

They're able to develop any project you may bring, but if not well monitorized the result can be this

http://www.***************/galileo.html

Nice saloon, beautiful varnish... but look at the slack stays, sail luff too big, unique and "creative" shape of the fishermans. And this was for the cathalogue!

Probably you will save some money, but not so much as you expect!

Numarine is another world. Also their prices.

turkish yacht building

Turkish yacht builders have been developing their skills quite substantially during the last decade. Both the production builders, as well as custom builders have improved their quality and still able to offer good deals in terms of value.

There has been a lot of know how injected in the industry and subcontractors have been serving even prime yards like Heesen (interiors are being subcontracted) and Perini Navi (who actually owns a yard and does most of the production here in Turkey).

My humble suggestion would be to pay a visit to the Istanbul Boat show in February, where one can have a better access to several builders.

By the way, as to my knowledge Numarine has been building the Pearl, but I do not have a recent update, whether this cooperation is still going on.

Major building areas are Istanbul and Antalya.

I was expecting you to come in with some good local knowledge Nilo. Thank you. I heard recently that a west-european yard had opened operations there, but couldn't remember who it was. From what I've heard the labor rate there is very attractive, but the political instability has been a drawback. Another drawback has been a lack of expertise (not craftmanship though) but that is being imported.

I believe you may be referring to Vitters joint venture for building motor yachts. Also recently Oyster has signed an exclusive agreement with RMK to build their 100 and 125 feet yachts. I also know a couple more who are preparing to be involved. This is due to the quality of work they can get at a far cheaper cost. Turkey being so close to the major markets is also a great advantage from a supervision perspective.

In my opinion, the political stability is not a problem as such, but there may be some difficulties on the economical front. Turkey so far did not have the direct effect of crises in her financial institutions, because we had a similar disturbance during 2001, where all the financial institution and regulators have been upgraded; satirically by the strong imposing efforts of institutions like IMF and World Bank; which seems had no precautionary effect on the major markets. They could have at least waved red flags to the international players in the industry when Turkish economy had to shrink in 2001 by some 10% and population greatly suffering from a similar disease.

The risk may lay with the strong Turkish currency since 2001 against major currencies, because the interest rates in Turkey were far more favorable compared with world markets, hence creating a surplus of foreign currencies against the Turkish lira and causing it to appreciate.

Anyway, to make the long story short, this may only be in favor of a prospective buyer in Turkey, because if Turkish lira is devaluated (it is a floating currency) then prices will become cheaper. Of course then the major point to care for would be the financial stability of the builder, in case you are not buying a completed boat.

At this stage, I did not want to mention any specific names of yards to avoid any bias and misjudgment, but would be happy to assist further if specific information about particular yards is sought.

What does Capt J know about boats built in Turkey ?

There you may find Perini Navi, Oyster 100&125 boatyards and Turkish brands such as Vicem, Dunya, Proteksan and Numarine. Plus there are many custom projects such as several boats designed by Tanju Kalaycioglu for F1's boss. If you needed a Gulet or a Tirhandil you could find some jaw-dropping examples too.

As a Turk who is into yachting I would recommend you to consider Turkish brands but also to compare them with foreign ones. As suggested before, visit Istanbul Boat Shows, there were two the last time one under a different name. I would suggest you to talk to Numarine before coming here and ask for a sea trial. I know their financial partner (foreign fund) they are proper people. Other brands build larger boats and superyachts as far as I know.

Something I would not suggest you to do is to place an order to some never heard of builder who promises a deal that is too good to be true. That dream deal would probably require you to visit Turkey every week or so and you will probably need to get involved with every detail.

Good Luck...

Hi,

I have made a list of builders' names which might benefit your research. I second Nilo's opinions in regards to the current conjecture. This is a mixed list, there are mega yacht shipyards and also builders who make day cruisers in different price ranges.


1. Yildiz Shipyard
2. Turkuaz Proteksan
3. RMK Shipyard (Oyster Joint Venture)
4. Dünya Yachts
5. Vicem Yachts
6. Numarine
7. Elegan Yatcilik
8. Marintek
9. Yonca Onuk Shipyard
10. Orucoglu Shipyard
11. Peri Yachts
12. Notika
13. Yeneryat
14. Egeyat
15. Samim Baki
16. Yay Gemi
17. Celik Yat

Regards,
Vivariva

You're welcome. I looked on the London Boat Show website, I could not find any builders in the directory.

Your best option would be to fly to Istanbul and attend the show here in February. There will be local builders there which are not widely known in yachting circles. However, I remember Vicem and Dunya brands attending the shows abroad. For example, Vicem was featured at the Miami and Palm Beach shows. The megas were at the last Monaco show in 2008. (Dunya,Yildiz, Orucoglu)

I do not have personal experience with these yachts except the Oyster brand, but the ones I sailed with were not built in Turkey. At sea, I mostly see Egemar and Vicem yachts. You might even find a few owners of these brands in Yachtforums.

Finally, there are sailboat builders (Bodrum, Antalya) that still do traditional work, but I did not include those since you are interested in motor-yachts. If you prefer to fly here for the show, I'll be happy to assist you.

Cheers,
VR

I would also suggest you contact Ed Fry, he is a consultant and naval architect ........http://frycoyachts.com/index.html
His company has built many yachts in Turkey, the latest is a 34.5 meter sportfisher "MY Seya" which belongs to someone I know. I have seen a few of his yachts and they are well built.
The shipyard where he built "Seya" is Logos Marine.......http://www.logosmarine.com/pg004.html

Good luck..........

A new yard, too

Be sure to check out Sunrise Yachts...it's a new yard with an incredibly impressive facility and an interesting construction process. They build in steel and use sub-contractors that work from offices and shops on their property, while retaining management of the entire process. Several new yachts in the works, including a line by Espen Oeino.

I've just come back from the London Boat Show and there isn't much there (apart from the big boys Sunseeker, Princess etc.).

Sign of the times....

1st, boats have stateroom or cabins, heads and galleys; not bedrooms, bathrooms and kitchens. That's not said to mock you, but that using the right terminology will help put you on better footing as you negotiate. The old paddle-wheelers plying the Mississippi River named each cabin after a state in the union (U.S.) hence the name. Sailors used to hang from the rigging at the bowsprit (or head of the boat) when they did their business.
As to finding boats made entirely in Turkey by companies located in Turkey with management from Turkey go back to the perception demonstrated earlier by Capt J. Currently what Turkey brings to the table is cheap labor and quality craftsmanship. They don't really have the corporate structures, technological expertise or reputations in the business (gross generalization). As pointed out in subsequent posts that is rapidly changing, but what you don't have in house you have to import. From what I've read the number of Turkish based yacht builders is growing, not shrinking so the future looks very bright.
BTW, when you talk about a 50 footer with 3 staterooms that 3rd will be extremely small. Unless you have small children it's ofter preferable to go with a 2 stateroom.
Oh, about not being able to afford the boat you'd like...welcome to the world of boating. You're thinking about buying a depreciating asset that will probably be way smaller than your home and cost a small fortune to maintain. I get such a kick when I see guys who wouldn't wipe off a counter at home polishing every inch of their boats. Don't expect to make any sense out of it. Set your budget, then double it and enjoy.