CAPTAIN | 10
YOUNG TURKS
NEW GENERATION OF TURKISH SAILORS
YOUNG TURKISH OLYMPIC SAILORS TEAMING UP FOR NEW CHALLENGE
Turkey may not have won an Olympic medal yet but has been a strong member of the international sailing community. The first participation in the Olympics dates back to 1936 and the tradition has continued since. In addition to the Olympics, Turkish sailors and sailing teams took part in TP52 and other offshore races, thus widening the horizons of the young generation of Turkish sailors.
In the past three decades the Turkish Olympic sailing team has proven to be a worthy competitor, claiming a number of titles in European and World Championships. Since then, every new generation comes with its flare and adds up to the already established strength of the Olympic sailing tradition. The SSL Gold Cup will provide a new opportunity for this young generation to show their talent and dedication to the Sailing Sport, thus enabling them to ever integrate with the larger community of Sailors and events.
Statistics
THE COUNTRY
- 100.000 Nautical Passionates
- 2.000 Sailors
- 150 Sailing Clubs
- Over 8.000 km. of Sea Cost
ACHİEVEMENTS
- 8 Olympic Participation
- 4 World Cup Medals
- Laser Youth World Champion
- TP52 Champion
SSL RANKING
- SSL best ranked woman: 962
- SSL best ranked man: 253
- SSL nations ranking:
The captain
ALİCAN KAYNAR
Alican is the most decorated sailor in Turkish History. 33 years old Finn sailors achieve 4 world cup medals, many top 10 in major regattas, and 3 Olympic games participations. Lastly, Alican Kaynar finished 8th place in Tokyo2020 which was the best result of Turkish Olympic History. Kaynar became Team YoungTurks captain in 2019 since then he is aiming with his teammates for SSL GOLD CUP besides his Olympic campaign.

THE LEADERS
DENİZ ÇINAR
Deniz is ranked in the top 5 among the Turkish sailors by the SSL. He is a member of Turkish 470 team that has participated in the last four Olympics. With numerous successes in international regattas, Deniz has accumulated a wealth of experience as helm, tactics and race strategy. He’ll be a great asset to the team as the tactician.
ECEM GÜZEL
Ecem is the new rising star of Turkish women sailing. Having won the Olympic selection events, Ecem geto to participate at her first Olympic games in Tokyo. At age 25, she is considered to be one of the most important athletes of the future of Turkish Sailing. Ecem will co-captain with Alican into the integration of young Turkish woman sailors to the SSL program.
KIVANÇ SEVİNÇ
Kıvanç is the most experienced bowman among Turkish sailors and thus considered to be the best for that position. He’s athletic, calm and performs with perfection under pressure. He’s been a member of a TP52 circuit and sailed as a bowman of a champion team. He’ll be trusted with all the actions on the bow for the Young Turks Team.


THE YOUTH FACTOR
Turkey has a quite large fleet of young sailors aiming to go to the Olympics. In recent years, young Turkish sailors have proven to be very successful by claiming the titles in the Optimist and Laser classes. In 2019 Yalçın Çıtak claimed the Youth World Championship in the Laser class. He’ll be a natural member of the Turkish SSL team, as well as others to follow on his footsteps.