Presidential International Yacht Races – Kurtuluş Cup (Istanbul–Samsun)
Istanbul (Anadolu Feneri) · TürkiyeAlso known as Kurtuluş Kupası, Independence Cup, İstanbul–Samsun Yat Yarışı
2026 · Overall
- 2Logo Yelken TakımıOnur Bilgen
- 1Enka Sailing Team (Enka Cheese)Levent Peynirci
- 3ZacapaSelim Kakış
- Type
- Offshore · 400 nm
- Scoring
- ORC
- Boats
- Rated yachts · Cruiser-friendly
- Usually
- May
- Next
- May 2027 (usual month; dates not announced)
- Organiser
- İstanbul Açık Deniz Yat Yarış Kulübü under the Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye
- Waters
- Black Sea
- First held
- 2025 · 1 years ago
Where and when
Race dates
Usually in May
Race days 2026
Wind and waves at the venue: monthly climate 2021–2025 and the last edition's race days (ERA5 and marine reanalysis, Open-Meteo, CC BY 4.0).
Six seasons
| Year | Winner (handicap, corrected) | Line honours (first home, elapsed) | Boats | Wind and sea | Toughness | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 202617 May 2026 – 19 May 2026 | Enka Sailing Team (Enka Cheese)OverallLevent Peynirci | Not published | — | NW 5.3 kn, gusts 28waves up to 0.72 m | 46 | Official |
| 202514 May 2025 – 19 May 2025 | Not published | — | 19 | SE 5.1 kn, gusts 30.5waves up to 0.8 m | 52 | — |
| 2024No edition | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2023No edition | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2022No edition | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2021No edition | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Line honours go to the first boat home, on elapsed time. Overall winner is the best on handicap (IRC or ORC corrected time), so they are often different boats. Wind is the daily mean at the start venue over the racing days; gusts and waves are the highest of those days. Open-Meteo historical weather (ERA5) and marine APIs, CC BY 4.0; venue point only, not the full course.
Podiums and class winners
2026 · 24 results
FinalSource: gazetebirlik.comAs published by the organiser; we copy places, not scores.
Race metrics
Toughness
Compare all races- Wind 6.2/305.2 kn mean
- Gusts 9.7/1529.2 kn
- Sea 4/200.8 m waves
- Distance 22.9/25400 nm
- Duration 5.8/104.5 days
How the score works
Our own index, not an official rating. Five inputs, each scaled to its share of 100: mean wind (up to 25 kn → 30 points), strongest gust (45 kn → 15), highest waves (4 m → 20), course length on a log scale (700 nm → 25) and days of racing (7 days → 10). Wind and waves are ERA5 reanalysis at Istanbul (Anadolu Feneri) (Open-Meteo) on the race days, so an offshore course can see more than the venue does. A missing input counts as zero and is marked. Roughest edition we hold: 2025 (52).
Weather calendar · Istanbul (Anadolu Feneri)
Month by month at the venue, 2021–2026 (ERA5 and marine reanalysis). Race months in orange.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean windkn | 8.2 | 8.1 | 7.3 | 6.9 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 7.4 | 8.1 | 7.5 | 7.2 | 7.5 | 7.5 |
| Windy days% ≥ 20 kn | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 |
| Wavesm, daily max | 1.3 | 1.5 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.4 |
| From | SW | N | N | N | NE | NE | NE | NE | NE | NE | SE | SE |
Typical wind at Istanbul (Anadolu Feneri)
Mean knots by month, 2021–2025. Race months in full colour.
Where the wind comes from
Share of days by direction in May.
Fact sheet
For press, partners and sponsors: the race in a dozen lines, from published sources. Copy it whole; please keep the source line.
- Race
- Presidential International Yacht Races – Kurtuluş Cup (Istanbul–Samsun)
- Kind
- offshore sailing race from Istanbul (Anadolu Feneri), Türkiye
- First held
- 2025
- Editions on record
- 2 since 2021
- Typical fleet
- 19 boats (19 in the latest edition)
- Course
- 400 nautical miles
- Latest overall winner
- Enka Sailing Team (Enka Cheese) (2026)
- Organiser
- İstanbul Açık Deniz Yat Yarış Kulübü under the Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye
- Next edition
- usually May 2027
- Official site
- https://sailturkiye.racing/en/
Results as published by the organiser Weather: Open-Meteo, CC BY 4.0 Dates as announced
Sources
- orc.org — ORC: 2025 Istanbul–Samsun offshore 400 nm, start 14 May 2025 from Anadolu Feneri
- haberturk.com — Habertürk 10 Apr 2026: 2026 calendar, Kurtuluş Kupası 17–19 May
- omu.edu.tr — Ondokuz Mayıs University: race to Samsun following the Bandırma steamer route
- sailturkiye.racing — Official series site (İstanbul Açıkdeniz Yat Yarış Spor Kulübü)
- fanatik.com.tr — 2026 programme: Kurtuluş Kupası 17–19 May, Adalar + Bosphorus