Turkish boats - too good to be true?

[Wckoek]

Browsing over yacht world one would find a lot of these Turkish made larger yacht both sail and motor to be disportionately cheaper than their competitors, they are mostly build of wood, and lots of wood, or steel in the case of motor yachts, some of the sailing yacht are labeled as "gulet".
By the force the market economy, are these boats too good to be true, are they really bad, or there is some reason that they are not sought after?

[belizesailor]

If it sounds to good to be true...

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...d.php?t=158172

[Wckoek]

Thanks, that might be true for "too good to be true" when it comes to wooden Turkish boats, how about steel?
I mean steel is steel right?

[denverd0n]

In many ways, a steel boat requires even more attention to maintenance than a wooden boat. Wooden boats rot, but steel boats rust.

Never mind the fact that the Turkish Gulets are in no way a sea-worthy cruising design.

I wouldn't waste my time, but it's your time so do with it as you will. Good luck.

[sailormed]

The masts are there only to please the turists they carry along the coast. If you ever wanted to hoist a sail (they come without), the mast would come down in any wind over a slight breeze. Purely for the nice pictures.

[boatman61]

Ignore the Gulets.. but some of the other types are seaworthy sailing vessels.. just check which type of pine they used in the build.

[Deltasailor]

Originally Posted by Wckoek

Browsing over yacht world one would find a lot of these Turkish made larger yacht both sail and motor to be disportionately cheaper than their competitors, they are mostly build of wood, and lots of wood, or steel in the case of motor yachts, some of the sailing yacht are labeled as "gulet".
By the force the market economy, are these boats too good to be true, are they really bad, or there is some reason that they are not sought after?

About 15 yeas ago a friend of mine, Jon delivered a Gullet from Corfu to France. He swam around it when it arrived in France and thought the wood on the transom looked a bit "iffy". His pen knife went right though,the wood was rotten!
Later, a good friend of mine Demitri Alexopolos, sailed in Turkish Gullet with 6 others from Corfu to Italy doing what we would call a delivery trip. 7 in the crew, all lost with no trace. I can't comment on the competence of the crew but a 70 mile trip from Corfu to Italy is not a big thing. My thought is
the wood was not up to the job!

[hpeer]

Steel is steel, but not all welding or design is equal.

When looking for steel boats I would start with boats fabricated in professional yards to designs by a naval architect. The interior should have been coated with two part epoxy at time of build.

If you can get good answers in those questions then proceed deeper.

[CarinaPDX]

I once saw 2 gulets under construction next to each other just west of Marmaris. One was for a European buyer and the woods were quality, as was the construction. The other was for a local captain, and the wood was knotty pine with laminations to make up for (some of) the weakness, and poorer fit to boot. Once completed, the differences would not have been so obvious; the Turkish captains pay for the beautiful finish - so the gulet will attract tourists on the quay - but don't expect the boat to last forever so cut corners everywhere else. I think it is possible to buy a quality gulet - there are some that have been built - but most are not.

There are some Turkish wooden boats that do sail reasonably well, and there is a sailing race annually between the charter boats to prove it. I hesitate to say "gulet" because the term gets misused a lot - technically it is only one of several popular designs that are built in Turkey, although westerners commonly refer to all of them as gulets.

While I think it is possible to find well-built Turkish wooden boats, most of them on the market in Turkey don't come close to measuring up.

Greg

[maxingout]

I saw gulets hauled out in Finike, Turkey, and I was impressed that they are extremely high maintenance, and wood rot is a real problem. But when they are all fixed up, they look beautiful.

[Tetepare]

I am a familiar with a couple made by Vicem and both have serious issues.

[HopCar]

A friend of mine who is a marine surveyer had a knock off of a Hinkley Picnic Boat made in Turkey. He was pleased with the quality of the work. This boat was fiberglass, not wood.

This thread go me curious about Turkish boat builders. There are a lot of them building some pretty large and sophisticated yachts and smaller boats. Take a look at these.
https://www.yachtall.com/en/boats/ege-yat

[Eleuthera 2014]

By and large, Turkish gulets are shallow draught, top heavy and only mimic sailboats to please the "great unwashed" who charter them.

They turn turtle with regularity and there are frequent fatalities...

[double u]

...on a turkish "Gulet" be prepared that maintenance is a 24/7 job! friends of ours had one garboard replaced during winter-haulout, when this was done the other one was rotted. blackwatertanks from mild steel, ...an endless story. a Gulet is about the most "no-no-boat" that I can think of

[TeddyDiver]

Originally Posted by CarinaPDX

. The other was for a local captain, and the wood was knotty pine...

There's nothing wrong with knotty pine as long as they are healthy knots (except the looks for some delicate eyes..)