TENZOR TEAM Tops Turkish J/70 Championship

(Turgutreis, Turkey)- The 2025 Turkish J/70 Championship was shaping up to be quite the battle between several veteran teams of the Turkish J/70 circuit over the past few years.

The two-time winners of the J/70 Turkish Championship 2023-2024, the winners of the TIC Winter Series 24/25, and the silver medalist of last year- TENZOR TEAM helmed by Andrey Pushkin- were aiming to defend their title. But, their main rivals- Russian BOGATYRS team, DOLCE VITA, NAUTIQUE YACHTING, CHEESE SAILING, EKER KAYMAK, AMEERA JET, and DENIZCIK- have all been podium finishers in past J/70 Turkish Championship and Tenzor International Cup events, and they promised to show their best skills as well.

“We’re really looking forward to the upcoming regatta and intense winter season with Tenzor International Cup Series,” said Erman Ayvaz, helmsman of HAPPY HOUR JR team. “Our team came together this year, and every event has been a step forward in building our rhythm and chemistry on the boat. It’s a great chance for us to line up against top teams and see where we stand. The level of competition is exactly what we need as we prepare for the World and European Championships next season”.

Women sailors are especially making their presence felt at each regatta as they continuously improve their performance. Lady helms such as Nevra Eker, Inna Balashova, and Elvira Pinchuk are certain to keep the men on their toes. Here is how it all went down for the twenty J/70 teams for the four-day regatta on the eastern end of the sunny Mediterranean.

Day 1
The opening ceremony and skipper briefing were held at D-Marine Turgutreis. The occasion marked the official start of the Turkish J/70 Championship, the final Leg of the Türkiye Tour, and the opening stage of the Tenzor International Cup Winter Series.

Organizers welcomed the fleet, explaining that the event is growing year to year. “Great teams are here to test against the best of the best. We’ve seen well-prepared boats and a lot of professionals among the Open and One Pro divisions. Plus, a good number of Corinthians crews are here also to fight for class honors,” remarked Burak Zengin, CEO of Tenzor Sailing Club Türkiye.

“We used the VAKAROS system for the first time in Türkiye to set up the starting line. In this regatta, both TAYK’s robotic buoys and the VAKAROS system were used in an integrated manner, with the two systems working together seamlessly to ensure a smooth and successful outcome,” commented Can Giray, the Principal Race Officer of the regatta.

The first race began in 12-knot winds from a 120-degree direction and was completed smoothly in around 57 minutes.

Igor Rytov’s Russian BOGATYRS finished first ahead of Elvira Pinchuk’s PTICHKI SAILING TEAM and Andrey Pushkin’s TENZOR TEAM. The best Turkish team in this race was Gunay Kaptan’s CHEESE SAILING, finishing 5th just after Bars Sailing Team.

Among the Corinthians, AYAZ JR TEAM successfully started with the win, followed by MYSK and EKER EFSANE YOGURT.

Preparations were then completed for the same course for the second race, which started immediately. This race was also completed without incident in the same time.

Race action was hot. BOGATYRS led the fleet pole-to-pole with TENZOR TEAM finishing second in this race. Third across the line was Turkish Ates Cinar’s FENERBAHCE DOGUS YELKEN.

The wind began to change, and it started to rain for the third and final race of the day. After the start, before the second leg began, the RC team shortened the leg length and moved the mark# 1 to 160 degrees. Despite the decreasing wind speed and rain, the race was completed on time.

The Corinthian Batu Ozonur’s MYSK-GELNER SAILING TEAM remarkably showed the best time, second at the finish line was Emir Icgoren’s AMEERA JET, followed by BOGATYRS taking 3rd place in this race.

“The first day of the Turkish Championship took place in a beautiful breeze blowing from the south. With every team having a real chance and the competition at the highest level, the racing was truly on a World Championship standard. We completed three races, during which we tested the new VAKAROS system, and thanks to its flawless performance, it provided great convenience for all competitors. It was a challenging and intense day for us”, commented AMEERA JET’s skipper, Emir Icgoren.

After three races, Russian BOGATYRS was placed at the top of the leaderboard in a tie with Elvira Pinchuk’s PTICHKI SAILING TEAM.

“The most interesting situation on the water was at the first upwind of the last race of the day, where we were on the left side, and all the fleet was on the right side of the course. We took a huge gap, and we were first on the top mark. But then the wind dropped, and unfortunately, we lost some position. But we are happy because during the day we were quite stable. Tomorrow we will try to catch BOGATYRS,” said Egor Terpigorev from PTICHKI SAILING TEAM.

Top women skipper Inna Balashova’s DOLCE VITA took the 3rd position at the end of Day 1, followed by TENZOR TEAM and DENIZCIK finishing with equal points.

In the Corinthians, MYSK-GELNAR SAILING TEAM was in the top position, AAYZ JR and EKER EFSANE YOGURT took second and third place, respectively.

Day 2
With a good, but shifting wind, the races on Friday were very challenging, and it didn’t disappoint; three fair, fun, and hard-fought races were done for the 20-boat fleet.

“While the start procedures were being carried out, the boats that were OCS (on the course side) identified themselves via the VAKAROS system and restarted. After the finishers had crossed the line, the RC wasted no time in giving the start signal for the day’s second race and the fifth race of the series. The VAKAROS system worked perfectly again, and the four OCS boats headed back to the starting line. Shortly before the start of the final race of the day and the sixth race of the series, the wind shifted by more than 40 degrees, forcing the RC to change the course completely. With five races completed, the teams began discarding their worst scores. The excitement will continue,” commented Can Giray, the PRO of the regatta.

BOGATYRS with Igor Rytov at the helm hold on to the top of the leaderboard. With one race win and the two scores behind the top-10, they saved the small gap ahead of Andrey Pushkin’s TENZOR Team, who managed to climb up two positions.

It was a very strong, consistent day for Gulboy Guryel’s DENIZCIK, steadily improving with scores of 2-3-3. Just off the podium, chasing one point behind was Pinchuk’s PTICHKI SAILING TEAM.

Maksim Batrakov’s BARS SAILING TEAM finished the day strong with victory in the last race of the day and moved up to 5th position in the leaderboard.

The incredibly high level of the fleet is clear when you consider that many strong teams, such as DOLCE VITA, NAUTIQUE YACHTING, AMEERA JET, and EKER KAYMAK, with professional sailors on board, currently sit in sixth to tenth places overall!

The top Corinthian team was Haluk Babacan’s ORIENT EXPRESS, in 12th place overall. Close behind were Ozone’s MYSK-GELNER SAILING TEAM, just three points adrift. They were followed by Arif Ayaz’s AYAZ JR, with 8 points further back.

Day 3
There was enough wind to pull off three scheduled races on the third day of racing. Principal Race Officer Can Giray revealed the wind “began to blow at approximately 12 knots from 150 degrees. RC went out to sea 120 minutes before the start and set up the course.”

The top three for the first race of this day (7th overall) were TENZOR TEAM, PTICHKI SAILING TEAM, and HAPPY HOUR JR. After the finishes of the first race were completed, the RC wasted no time and gave a start for the second race.

Seemingly on a roll, TENZOR TEAM got the second race win ahead of PTICHKI and BOGATYRS.

The RC began the third race without delay, but was concerned about the wind, which it predicted would lighten in the afternoon. As predicted, by the time the third race ended, the wind had begun to lose its strength. But all programs were done perfectly.

The third race was the most challenging and brought a lot of surprises. CHEESE SAILING did their maximum to show the best time, TENZOR TEAM finished second, and proved its leadership in the overall standings. The next three lucky teams in this race were DENIZCIK, NAUTIQUE YACHTING, and DOLCE VITA.

In the overall standings after nine races, TENZOR TEAM had ascended to the top of the leaderboard, followed by DENIZCIK and PTICHKI SAILING TEAM. Due to a bad result behind the top 10 in the last race, BOGATYRS lost 3 positions overall and sat in 4th position.

“Today provided warm, nice weather for us, but tricky and tough day for all I believe,” commented Doga Aribas, tactician of NAUTIQUE YACHTING. “The wind was good, but tricky, and the competitive fleet provided really close racing. For us, we managed to get consistent results and fought our way to the top 5. After a bad start on the first day it helped us a lot. Tomorrow is the last day of racing with points are pretty close. So it’s all to play for tomorrow and we hope that light winds will let us race.”

In the Corinthians division, the leader continued to be ORIENT EXPRESS. Their two rivals- MYSK-GELNER SAILING TEAM and AYAZ JR continued to fight for 2nd and 3rd places with an equal number of points. EFSANE YOGURT and ASPAT Team completed the top 5 after 9 races with only 1 point between each other.

Day 4- The Finale
It had been predicted that the final race day may be a day off in Turgutreis Marina for the fleet. And, that is exactly what happened!!

The fleet was on the water in time and racing commenced at 12:00 PM but very light winds did not allow to finish the race number 10 and it was cancelled. The teams were waiting for awhile for a breeze to materialize, but due to lack of the wind, the fleet returned back to the marina.

Of course, it was a frustrating day for sailors and organizers alike, who had waited for the new challenging races to complete the full program. But, finally, everybody was happy to have nine races in their pocket.

“We were lucky to have three days out of four with good wind and nine races completed,” commented Daniil Odintsov from the winning TENZOR TEAM. “The turning point was on Day 3 for us. We went through it well and were able to make a breakthrough in the standings, which allowed us to win the regatta at the end. We played our game in the beginning, and started tracking our closest rivals only on the last race day. Thanks to the joint efforts of the team that the great result is achieved for us!”

Pushkin’s winning TENZOR TEAM was comprised of Danil Odintsov, Aleksandr Audrianov, and Nikita Ushkov. Taking second was Guryel’s DENZCIK team of Ali Tezdiker, Massimo Bortoletto, and Ben Saxton with 32 pts net. Then, taking the bronze medal was Pinchuk’s PTICHKI SAILING TEAM, consisting of Ilia Polishchuk, Egor Terpigorev, and Aleksandr Grishunin.

Rounding out the top five was Rytov’s RUSSIAN BOGATYRS in fourth place with a crew of Konstantin Besputin, Anton Sergeev, and Aleksandr Patrushev. They were followed by Onur Ererdag’s NAUTIQUE YACHTING in fifth place with crew of Doga Aribas, Arda Baykal, and Cem Gozen.

The top woman helm was Inna Balashova’s DOLCE VITA with her crew of Valentin Uvarkin, Andrei Dmitriev, and Ilya Strakh. Her team just missed the top five by 2 pts, taking 6th overall.

“I would like to thank organizers and all people involved, because all was great and professionally hosted. We won last year Turkish Championship and this year defended our title and won again. We are happy! Beautiful weather, we enjoyed sailing and the wind a lot. The participants were very competitive, so all of us had a great racing in a strong fleet,” stated Gulboy Guryel, owner and helmsman of DENIZCIK team.

Corinthians Division
Winning this division was Haluk Babcan’s ORIENT EXPRESS with his crew of Arif Gurdenli, Bugra Hadimoglu, and Efe Sezik. Second place went to Batu Ozone’s MYSK-GELNER SAILING TEAM with a crew of Dalyan Onur, Soysalan Poyraz, Belgen Can Gungordu, and Ugurhan Ozkan. Then, rounding out the podium with the bronze medal was Arif Ayaz’s AYAZ JR team with crew of Ugur Ayaz, Melih Altinkut, and Mehmet Turkmen.

BOGATYRS wins Turkiye J/70 Tour 2025
In the final accounting for the 5-stage Turkey J/70 Tour, it was Russian BOGATYRS that was awarded the gold medal. They were followed by TENZOR TEAM in second place and NAUTIQUE YACHTING getting the bronze.

In the Corinthian division, the best three were MYSK-GELNER SAILING TEAM, EFSANE YOGURT, and ORIENT EXPRESS, respectively.

“We’re so happy and proud to be hosting this big, important regatta here in Turgutreis D-Marin together with J/70 Turkish Association and Tenzor Sailing Club. It was fantastic sailing and competition, all the teams from different yacht clubs and countries showed up, and it was an exciting whirlwind of an event,” said Burak Zengin, CEO of Tenzor Sailing Club Türkiye at the prize-giving ceremony.

For more J/70 TENZOR INTERNATIONAL CUP sailing information
https://www.ticows.com