Since ancient times, sailing counted undoubtedly as a very interesting extreme sport. However not everyone can learn sailing easily, if you have a strong patience to pull it of you will get addicted to sailing. The best part of sailing is of course being at the sea! Participating in races, seeing overseas countries or just sailing as a hobby is enough to refresh one’s soul! We had an interview with Tolga Yağlı, the Licensed Sailor about his exciting passion.
1- Can you introduce yourself to us?
My name is Tolga Yağlı and I am 42 years old. I’ve been doing sailing since I was 8. I wore the national team uniform in 198 races. I worked in different sectors for a while. Since 2007, I have been continuing my business life as the founding partner of Lemon Sailing School. To date, we have teached sailing to hundreds of people, as well as corporate sailing training and introduced many companies with sailing. In addition to my own business, I am an Arkas Sailing Team athlete at Arkas Sports Club. Since 2016, I have been the Club President of Arkas Çeşme Sailing Club We have a lot of athletes who became champion in Europe and Turkey.
2- How and when did you start sailing?
With the advice of my brother Çağlar Kocatoros who lives in the same apartment with us, I started it when I’m 8 by attending a summer course at Karşıyaka Sports Club.
3- What do you feel about sailing?
It makes me feel so free when I’m at the sea. It seems to give you unlimited power because at sea the conditions are very difficult and variable. You need to adapt quickly. However, hidden bays, different sea creatures that I discover when I sail, excite me every time!
4- We heard a lot about your achievements both at home&broad and we are really proud of your achievements. Can you tell us a bit about the races you participated in?
As Arkas Sail Team, we participated in the Rolex Middle Sea Race in Malta in 2015. The race was one of the most challenging races in the Mediterranean Sea, we competed 600 nautical miles and finished the race in 106 hours as a champion. In general, we ranked 5th among the 120 boats. Our overseas adventures continued in 2016 with the Giraglia Rolex Cup race held in Saintropez, France. In 2017, as the only Turkish team participating in the Giraglia Rolex Cup in Italy, we became the 2nd in the IRC A group at the start of the race.
5- What was your most memorable moment at the sea?
It was a very special moment for me and my teammates who were on the deck at the Giraglia race in 2016, when we saw a whale 50 meters ahead of us. For the first time in our lives, we met a whale!
