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Sailing Yachts from Istanbul Marinas: Skippers, Prices and Guests
Sailboat charter in Istanbul almost always comes with a skipper, and the price is quoted in three ways: ₺25,000 for a six-hour weekday trip on a 10–12-metre yacht, ₺3,700 an hour with a six-hour minimum, or ₺31,700 a day on a 14.9-metre cruiser. Below: what each price covers, how the four models differ, how many guests they take, which marinas they leave from and what to ask before you book.
What a skippered sailing trip includes
A sailing trip here is a private booking of a whole yacht with a professional at the helm, and the same day on the water can be priced per trip, per hour or per day.
The whole boat and a professional skipper
You book the entire sailboat for your group, not a seat on a shared boat. The Rent-Trip section on this page brings together four sailboat models, and the market offers them in two working modes: with a skipper and by the day. A professional skipper on each boat is the norm, and most rentals in the city require a professional captain rather than leaving the yacht to the guests. That changes what you are paying for. The rate covers the boat and the person who sails it, so the guests can simply ride along, help with the ropes under the skipper's direction or take the wheel for a while when he allows it. Before comparing two offers, confirm that the skipper is inside the price on both, because a quote without one is not the same product.
Three ways the price is quoted
Two of the yachts are offered per trip: ₺25,000 buys a six-hour weekday outing on the Beneteau First 40 or the M.A.T. 1010 for up to five people. The Beneteau Oceanis Clipper 393 is priced by the hour at ₺3,700, with a minimum of six hours, so the shortest booking costs ₺22,200. The Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 49i is priced by the day at ₺31,700, and the number of hours inside that day is not stated. Read side by side, the three units describe roughly the same thing — a long session on the water with a skipper — but they hide different totals. Turn every offer into a full total for your date before deciding which is cheaper.
Why the choice is small
Four models is an honest picture of the city, not a gap in the page. Turkey's large sailing charter fleets are based on the Aegean and Mediterranean coast — in Bodrum, Göcek, Fethiye and Marmaris — and sailboats with a fixed rate are rare in Istanbul itself. Motor yachts are far more common on the Bosphorus and have their own section, starting from ₺2,500 an hour. If the date or the group size does not fit any of the four sailboats, a motor yacht is the realistic alternative, although the experience is different: an engine instead of sails, more speed and less quiet.
Prices from ₺3,700 an hour to ₺31,700 a day
Starting prices for the four sailboats run from an hourly rate to a full day, and the weekday, the length of the outing and VAT each move the total.
Four sailboats side by side
| Model | Type | Length | Guests | Starting price | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beneteau Oceanis Clipper 393 | Cruising | 11.9 m | 8 | ₺3,700 | Hour, 6-hour minimum |
| M.A.T. 1010 | Racing | 10.15 m | 5 | ₺25,000 | Trip, 6 hours |
| Beneteau First 40 | Cruiser-racer | 12.24 m | 5 | ₺25,000 | Trip, 6 hours |
| Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 49i | Cruising | 14.9 m | 6 | ₺31,700 | Day |
Weekday and weekend rates
The weekend costs a third more than a weekday on the two trip-priced yachts. A six-hour outing on the First 40 or the M.A.T. 1010 starts at ₺25,000 from Monday to Friday and at about ₺33,400 on Saturday and Sunday, for the same boat, the same six hours and the same five guests. For sailboat rental in Istanbul this is the biggest single lever on price that is fully under your control: moving the trip to a weekday saves about ₺8,400 without changing anything else. On a per-hour basis the weekday trip works out at about ₺4,200 an hour and the weekend trip at about ₺5,600, both above the ₺3,700 hourly rate of the Oceanis Clipper 393. Ask whether the hourly and daily rates also change at the weekend, because the starting figures for those two boats do not say.
Half day, full day and VAT
Skippered trips on 33–42-foot sailboats — roughly 10 to 12.8 metres, the same size class as three of the four models here — are also offered by the half day and the full day, for up to seven people. A weekday half day starts at about ₺36,200, a weekend full day reaches about ₺58,400, and a typical trip sits near ₺47,300. Those rates do not include 20% VAT, which lifts the weekday half day to about ₺43,400 and the weekend full day to about ₺70,100. The tax line is the easiest thing to miss when comparing offers. One quote may already include it while another adds a fifth on top, and the gap between them then looks like a price difference when it is really an accounting one. Ask in writing whether VAT is included before setting two totals side by side.
Hourly minimums and the week rate
The hourly price of the Oceanis Clipper 393 is ₺3,700, but the boat is not booked for less than six hours, so the real entry ticket is ₺22,200. That is still the lowest total among the four models, and with eight guests on board it is also the lowest per person. The Sun Odyssey 49i works the other way: its daily rate of ₺31,700 has a weekly version of about ₺190,300, which equals six daily rates. A seven-day charter therefore gives one day free compared with booking day by day. A week on board is a different plan from a six-hour trip — it means nights on the boat and a longer route — so ask what the week rate covers before treating it as a discount.
Racing, cruiser-racer and cruising hulls
The four sailboats belong to three types, and the type decides more about the day than the length does: how the boat moves, how much space there is to sit and what the guests are expected to do.
M.A.T. 1010: a race boat for people who want to sail
The M.A.T. 1010 is the only pure racing yacht among the four, 10.15 metres long with two cabins and room for five guests. A racing hull is built to sail fast and to respond quickly, and its deck is laid out for working the sails rather than for lying in the sun. It suits a small group that wants to feel the boat heel and take part in tacks, rather than watch the shore go by. It costs the same ₺25,000 for a weekday trip as the larger First 40, so the choice between the two is a matter of temperament, not budget. For a family with small children or guests who expect shade and a wide cockpit, one of the cruising boats is the more comfortable pick.
Beneteau First 40: speed with three cabins
The Beneteau First 40 is a cruiser-racer: 12.24 metres, three cabins and room for five guests. The type sits between the two extremes, with enough performance to make a good day of sailing and enough interior to change clothes, rest out of the wind or shelter from a sudden shower. It shares its price and its marina with the M.A.T. 1010 — ₺25,000 for a weekday trip, about ₺33,400 at the weekend — which makes the pair easy to compare directly. For the same money the First 40 gives about two more metres of length and one more cabin, while the M.A.T. 1010 gives a livelier, more demanding boat.
Sun Odyssey 49i and Oceanis Clipper 393: the cruisers
Two models are pure cruisers, designed for comfort and space rather than for racing. The Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 49i is the largest boat in the section at 14.9 metres, with four cabins, a 110 hp engine and room for six guests; it is priced by the day. The Beneteau Oceanis Clipper 393 is 11.9 metres long and takes the most guests, eight, at an hourly rate. Both are older boats: the Oceanis is more than twenty years old and the Sun Odyssey about five years younger. Age in a well-kept cruising yacht matters less than in a racing one, but it is fair to ask when the sails and the interior were last renewed. For relaxed sailing in Istanbul with a mixed group, these two boats are the natural first look.
Guests, cabins and cost per person
Guest limits on the four sailboats range from five to eight, and dividing the price by the group size changes the order of the cheapest options.
Guests and price per person
| Model | Guests | Cabins | Price | Per guest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beneteau Oceanis Clipper 393 | 8 | not stated | ₺22,200 for 6 hours | about ₺2,800 |
| Beneteau First 40 | 5 | 3 | ₺25,000 per weekday trip | ₺5,000 |
| M.A.T. 1010 | 5 | 2 | ₺25,000 per weekday trip | ₺5,000 |
| Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 49i | 6 | 4 | ₺31,700 per day | about ₺5,300 |
Five, six, seven or eight guests
A full Oceanis Clipper 393 costs about ₺2,800 per person for six hours, roughly half the per-guest cost of any other model. The First 40 and the M.A.T. 1010 come to ₺5,000 each per person on a weekday and about ₺6,680 at the weekend, while the Sun Odyssey 49i lands at about ₺5,300 per person for a day. Skippered 33–42-foot boats for up to seven people work out at about ₺5,200 per person for a weekday half day and about ₺8,300 for a weekend full day, before VAT. The guest limit is a firm ceiling set by the boat and its skipper, so a group of six does not fit on a five-guest yacht, whatever the price. A group of seven or eight has exactly one fixed-price option among the four models.
Cabins and nights on board
Cabins matter on a day trip mainly as shelter and a place to change, but they decide everything if you plan to sleep on board. The Sun Odyssey 49i has four cabins for six guests and the only weekly rate among the four, so it is the one model clearly set up for nights at sea. The First 40 has three cabins and the M.A.T. 1010 two, yet both are offered as six-hour trips with five guests, not as overnight charters. The cabin count for the Oceanis Clipper 393 is not given. If an overnight stay is the plan, ask how many people the boat sleeps, not how many it takes for a day.
Marinas on both shores of the city
The four sailboats leave from three different marinas, on the Asian and the European sides, so the departure point is part of the choice and not a detail to sort out later.
Fenerbahçe and Kalamış on the Kadıköy shore
The Beneteau First 40 and the M.A.T. 1010 sail from Fenerbahçe Marina in Kadıköy, on the Asian side. Skippered 33–42-foot boats leave from Kalamış, the neighbouring bay on the same shore. From here the yachts sail out into the Sea of Marmara, close to the southern entrance of the Bosphorus, which makes the Kadıköy shore the natural start for a Bosphorus sailing tour or a trip towards the Princes' Islands. For visitors staying on the European side, getting to Kadıköy usually means a ferry or a crossing by road, so leave time for it before a morning departure.
Ataköy on the European side
The Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 49i is based at Ataköy Marina, on the European shore of the Sea of Marmara, west of the historic peninsula. It is the only one of the four sailboats that starts on the European side. For guests staying in the western districts this is the shortest way to the water, while a trip to the Bosphorus from here takes longer than from the Kadıköy shore. For a day-priced boat with a weekly option, that matters less: a longer route along the Marmara coast suits it well.
Pendik on the far east of the Asian side
The Beneteau Oceanis Clipper 393 sails from the Marinturk marina in Pendik, far along the Asian coast to the east of the city centre. From Pendik the Princes' Islands are closer than the Bosphorus, so a six-hour trip from here usually leans towards the islands rather than the city skyline. Getting to Pendik from the central districts is a trip of its own, which is worth counting in when an eight-guest group compares it with a boat leaving from Kadıköy.
Matching the marina to the route
The departure marina shapes the route as much as the boat does. If the Bosphorus and the skyline are the point of the day, the Kadıköy shore is the obvious start; if the islands and open water matter more, Pendik is closer; Ataköy suits longer passages along the European shore. Agree the route with the skipper before the date, because wind decides on the day how far a sailboat can go in six hours.
Skipper, licences and a comparable quote
Most of what goes wrong with a sailing booking comes from two offers that look alike but count different things. Below: the licence question and what to fix in writing.
Do you need a sailing licence?
On a skippered trip the guests do not sail the boat on their own, so a licence is not part of the booking: the professional skipper is in charge and the guests sail as passengers or as crew under his direction. Hiring a sailboat without a captain is the exception in the city rather than the rule, because most rentals here require a professional captain. If an operator does offer a yacht without a skipper, it sets its own conditions for experience and documents, and those conditions should come in writing with the quote. For a first trip on the Sea of Marmara a skippered yacht is the practical choice in any case: the skipper knows the busy shipping lanes, the ferries crossing between the shores and the marina rules.
Day, hours and group size
Three things move the price more than the choice of boat: the day of the week, the number of hours and the number of guests. A weekday saves about a third on the trip-priced yachts. The hours set the total on the hourly boat, where every hour above the six-hour minimum adds ₺3,700. The group size decides which boats are possible at all: five guests fit on any of the four models, six rule out the First 40 and the M.A.T. 1010, and seven or eight leave only the Oceanis Clipper 393 among the four.
Five questions for every quote
- Unit and hours: per trip, per hour or per day, and how many hours that covers; multiply an hourly rate by its minimum before comparing.
- Weekday or weekend: the trip-priced yachts cost about ₺8,400 more on Saturday and Sunday.
- VAT: whether 20% is included or added on top of the figure.
- Skipper: that the skipper is in the price, and whether guests may help sail.
- Marina and route: where the boat leaves from and which way it will sail in the hours booked.
A quote that answers all five can be compared with any other; one that leaves a gap is not yet a final price.
Key points before you book a sailboat
Six figures to keep in mind
- Weekday trip: six hours on the First 40 or the M.A.T. 1010 start at ₺25,000 for up to five guests.
- Weekend: the same trip costs about ₺33,400, a third more.
- Hourly: the Oceanis Clipper 393 costs ₺3,700 an hour with a six-hour minimum, ₺22,200 in total, for up to eight guests.
- Day and week: the Sun Odyssey 49i costs ₺31,700 a day, and a week equals six daily rates, about ₺190,300.
- VAT: some skippered trips quote without 20% VAT, which turns ₺36,200 into about ₺43,400.
- Skipper: a professional skipper on board is the norm, and most rentals in the city require one.
The cheapest boat per person is the one that fills all its places, so start from the size of the group, then choose the day and the marina, and only then compare the totals.