Facebook

Login

Support Sailonline

If you haven't already - join the SAILONLINE YACHT CLUB!

Please also consider making a donation - all amounts are greatly appreciated!

14 July 2025


click on results image to see larger

PARABÉNS vida !!!
GEFELICITEERD bonknhoot !! GRATULACJE WRmirekd !

Race Leaderboard

Reports

Commentary

A strong fleet of 129 SOLers came to the start line (point) in racy re-tuned Version 2 IMOCA 60's for SOL's classic, almost annual, celebration of all things Turkish; 111 started and exactly eighty made it to the finish, through the constant coastal dangers of the Bosporus and Dardanelles and the straits and channels between the Greek islands and the Turkish mainland. It is the very special SOLer who can negotiate this voyage without stopping for at least one BBQ, and amongst the leaders none did, even our winner, vida, admitting to a scenic stop, if perhaps a brief one, so he reports under the button above. As runner-up bonknhoot has sailed some (by no means all) of these waters IRL, he thought to share his cruising blogs with you as well, which you will find under the buttons left and right of vida's report.

In his report, vida makes mention of the fact that at the request of the Turkish government, the UN in 2022 agreed that the country's name in English shall be The Republic of Türkiye. However, the UN has no jurisdiction about what people write or say, and so the US Department of State quickly advised as follows:

"the Board on Geographic Names retains both Turkey and Republic of Turkey, the previous spelling, as conventional names, as these are more widely understood by the American public. The department will use the spelling that you see today [Türkiye] in most of our formal diplomatic and bilateral contexts, including in public communications, but the conventional name can also be used if it is in furtherance of broader public understanding."

In short, as neither the 'ü' nor the ending 'iye' is a feature of the King's nor for that matter, American English, generally please ignore.

Allegedly, the background to the Turkish request could be the misfortune that that great American bird - no, not the eagle - goes by the same name. Turns out though that it is the bird rather than the country that got misnamed and by the Pilgrims when they first encountered it in the New World, as the birds looked a bit - not a lot - like a Guinea fowl, which in turn in England at the time were known as turkey hens and cocks since they were thought to come from Turkey, the land of the Turcs, although the Spanish and French settlers knew both the American bird and the African bird as Indian hens, either because they thought America was India or because the African birds used to come in on ships returning from India!

But turkeys were a bit stupid and easy to catch and kill, hence a pejorative association developed. Better then might have been if Turkey had asked to change the English name for the bird, for example by borrowing dinde ('of India') from the French or kalkoen (Dutch bastardisation of Calica). 'Dim as a dinde' has a ring about it and over time should catch on, the more so as it's grammatically and logically hard for anybody to be a turkey if Turkey is only and exclusively a nation state of 85m people.

Humour - appeals to a sense of the ludicrous and absurd (Merriam-Webster) - will out!

Comments are closed.

Comments have been closed for this post.

Races

Next Race: 00d 00h 00m

Current Races:

Round Hong Kong TIMED Race 2025

This month’s TIMED race takes us to the hectic, bustling sea lanes of the South China Sea for a 118 nm race beginning and ending in Hong Kong rounding several of the 260 nearby islands along the way. The boat for this race is the South African built Cape 31. This is a TIMEDrace so you may RE-REGISTER HEREto try again after finishing a run. You will have 13 days and 11 hours to test your skill and decision making after the race opens.
Race #1964
INFOby brainaid.de
Cape 31 Particulars
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking:
TRQ4 - TRCH - SUPSOL - SYC
RACE CLOSE: Saturday,
22 November at 23:00 UTC
Race starts: Nov 09th 12:00 Registration will open soon
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Red Eye - Frisian Isles Trophy 2025

For our final “Red Eye” race, we invite you to cross the Noord Zee to the Wadden Zee, where a 160nm course around a few sandy islands raced on SOL only once before in 2010 awaits you. We don’t have a replica of Erskine Childers’ Dulcibella in our boathouse, and in any case if we took her out, we might well contract more than one “Red Eye”, so instead we’ll race our very own riddle of the sands in Farr 400s!
Race #1848
INFOby brainaid.de
Farr 400 PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: SYC - RED

RACE CLOSE: Tuesday,
November 11 at 2300 UTC.
Race starts: Nov 05th 12:00 Registration Open!
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Fernando de Noronha to Faroe 2025

The RWW Series concludes with a spectacular journey from Fernando de Noronha to the Faroe Islands, a legendary destination in the wild North Atlantic. Panning 4,100 nautical miles, this leg will be a true test of endurance, strategy, and sheer determination. Also the penultimate leg of the 2025 Ocean Championship, it’s your chance to prove your mettle against the sea, the wind, and yourself. We’ll be racing aboard the Ragamuffin 100, a vessel built for speed and challenge — demanding planning, precision and grit from every sailor on deck. Do you have what it takes to master the Northern Atlantic?.
PRIZE: SMPF
Race #1960
INFO by brainaid.de
Ragamuffin 100 PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: RWW - OCQ4 - OCCH - SUPSOL - SYC
Race starts: Nov 03rd 11:00 Registration Open!
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

ORCV Melbourne to Devonport Race 2025

Welcome to the legendary Rudder Cup, Australia’s oldest and most storied yacht race—sailed for over 110 years across the challenging Bass Strait from Melbourne to Tasmania. Organized by the Ocean Racing Club of Victoria, this 195nm classic tests sailors’ skill, strategy, and endurance against the unpredictable Southern Ocean. This year, our SOLers will be racing the timeless Swan 36, Nautor’s very first production yacht—a Sparkman & Stephens masterpiece renowned for her elegance, balance, and seaworthy performance. Get ready for a true ocean racing adventure!
Race #1951
INFO by brainaid.de
Swan 36 PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: SYC
RACE CLOSE: Saturday,
November 8 at 2300 UTC.
Race starts: Oct 31st 03:30 Registration Closed
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Sinbad by Balloon 2025 - Carnarvon to Dondra


From here, our home in Bharatavarṣa is now north west of us – said Sinbad to his fellow balloonists. Perhaps we can ride the wind first further north, and then catch the winds that every year bring the rain, perhaps not. It’s 2600nm and we could be aloft awhile, so, Master el-Quarters, victuals only, no sandbags, provisioning the giant hamper. It will be not a picnic!
Race #1886
INFOby brainaid.de
SOL Balloon PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: SYC - SBB
Race starts: Oct 15th 11:00 Registration Closed
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Go to race archive

SYC Ranking

  1. Sailonline Yacht Club Member KaSToR
  2. Sailonline Yacht Club Member CriticalHippo
  3. Sailonline Yacht Club Member WRmirekd
  4. Sailonline Yacht Club Member vida
  5. Sailonline Yacht Club Member rafa
  6. Sailonline Yacht Club Member CollegeFund
  7. Sailonline Yacht Club Member Panpyc
  8. Sailonline Yacht Club Member FreyjaUSA
  9. Sailonline Yacht Club Member BRENTGRAY
  10. Sailonline Yacht Club Member Sax747

View full list

Series

Mobile Client

SYC members have the benefit of access to our mobile/lightweight web client!

The mobile client