In 2007 RSYS members John and Kay Brooks, John and Nina Saalfeld and Bruce and Prue Gould sailed a Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 49DS in the Aegean Rally, a two week charter yacht jaunt, which combined the Greek Islands of the Eastern Aegean Sea and the coast of Turkey between Bodrum and Marmaris. This itinerary enabled a unique insight into two contrasting cultures with Orthodox Greece on one side of the frontier and Islamic Turkey on the other.

Historically of course Greece and Turkey have been involved in extended periods of conflict and Greece in fact invaded Turkey as recently as 1922 after the First World War. Some residual antagonism still lingers but the overwhelming conclusion the modern traveller experiences in this part of the world is that there are more similarities than differences in spite of history and the cultural contrasts.

The importance of family reigns supreme in both cultures, sitting squarely in conflict with the divisive influences of television, pop music and the more fluid nature of modern society. A Greek coffee is the same as a Turkish coffee and the cuisine of both countries reflects strong Middle Eastern influences and the kids all wear jeans. Both cultures offer a friendly face to foreigners although the Greeks are a little less gregarious than the Turks typically are.

Both countries share a Roman history with Ephesus in Turkey the most extensive archaeological remnant of the Eastern Roman empire and Pythagorion on nearby Samos the port where Mark Antony and Cleopatra assembled there fleet for their fateful battle with Octavian at Actium in Western Greece.

Geographically there are no similarities. The Turkish coast is mountainous, wooded and heavily indented and wherever it is possible to anchor a yacht some enterprising sole has built a restaurant and probably a simple wooden quay to which the visiting sailor can hitch his or her yacht. In such places it is possible to make real contact with the locals who will soon reveal that they bear no malice to the Greeks or anyone else in the world, expect perhaps George Bush! There are few big population centres along the Turkish Aegean or Mediterranean coastlines and no big rivers flowing into the sea, which is therefore unpolluted. Turkey does, however, have large tracts of arable land and the agricultural production of Turkey makes it self sufficient in food.

The Greek Islands of the Aegean are also mountainous but they are generally rocky and barren with only small pockets of agriculture on bigger islands like Samos and Kos. Olive trees and goats are extremely resilient, however and as you enter the port of Vathi on Kalimnos for example you will see both clinging precariously to the precipitous escarpments of the fjord that lead to the port.

In May 2009 the Aegean Rally will again be run and will again include an optional overland trip from the amazing city of Istanbul to the embarkation port of Kusadasi. This trip includes the spiritual Gallipoli (without the crowds of ANZAC Day), Troy, Assos, Pergamon and of course Ephesus.

The rally will be run during the second half of May when maximum temperatures will be in the high 20’s, minimums in the mid teens and water temperatures in the low 20’s. May is the time of the westerly winds so with a general course direction south of west the sailing conditions are generally second to none. During the 2008 rally, just finished, there were basically 14 cloudless days with perfect flat water sailing on the race days. The six short races in the rally program used a handicapping system in which the TCF for each yacht was adjusted to produce the same corrected time as the winner in each race. During the six races of the rally this system inexorably compressed the fleet into a box that produced a lot of surprises.

The fleet for the Aegean Rally is chartered from a Turkish operator who also provides the technician who delivers 24/7 service to the fleet, which is predominantly Jeanneau built. There are no spinnakers and with just 150 miles to cover in two weeks no long and tiring passages. The social program that runs concurrently with the alternate race day lay day program fosters a lively banter between the crews but no-one takes the racing seriously – well maybe just a little.

Sponsor of the club’s winter and twilight series, Mariner Boating Holidays is the owner and operator of the event. For more details please contact Lauren White on 99661244 or by email from This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

For further details on yacht charter in Greece please CLICK HERE