Dr. Ozgur Ural

Dr. Ozgur Ural

Senior Software Engineer & Researcher | Ph.D. in ML Security | Tech Lead

METU Sailing Team: Racing in Urla, Bodrum, and Marmaris

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From the Helm

Competitive sailing is a masterclass in high-stakes teamwork where split-second decisions matter. It teaches you to trust your crew implicitly and communicate with absolute clarity under pressure (“Communication beats heroics”). I have found these patterns apply directly to Incident Management and Engineering Ops.

Middle East Technical University’s sailing club has long been a hub for students who love the sea. I joined the club about six years ago, eager to escape Ankara’s dry inland climate, and spent nearly every free weekend on the Aegean. I’m not a member today, but the lessons still stick. Learning to call sail trim and feeling the hull surge after a clean tack gave me my first taste of real teamwork.

Those early regattas taught me more than boat handling. We planned our own logistics, from borrowing a van for the sails to cooking pasta in the parking lot after long practice days. Keeping a race journal of what went right and wrong became a habit I still lean on, even if my time on the water is a few years behind me.

Races on Turkey’s Aegean Coast

  1. Urla: Home to the Aegean Offshore Yacht Club (EAYK), Urla hosts a packed calendar of weekend races and training regattas, including the annual Jimmy Key Cup. Afternoon thermals can die without warning, so we learned to bank a lead early.
  2. Bodrum: BAYK’s Baykar Winter Trophy, sponsored by Baykar, keeps crews sharp through the off-season in Bodrum’s sheltered waters. Gusts funneling off the hills reward crews who trim quickly.
  3. Marmaris: Each autumn, the Marmaris International Race Week draws crews from across Europe for a week of intense competition. The long downwind legs here taught us to trust the spinnaker and stay patient.

Lessons from the Cockpit

  1. Telltales are the boat’s heartbeat, glance at them every few seconds.
  2. Communication beats heroics; call your moves early and clearly.
  3. If you have time to relax, you have time to coil a line.

Key Roles on a Racing Sailboat

  1. On our boat I often trimmed the jib, but rotating through each position taught me how every role matters.
  2. Helmsman: Steers the boat and keeps it on course. A calm helm keeps the crew focused during hectic pre-starts.
  3. Tactician: Plans the best route based on wind and competitors, often with one eye on the compass and one on the fleet.
  4. Trimmers: Adjust sails for speed and balance; I learned to watch the leeward telltales and feather in gusts.
  5. Bowman: Manages sails and lines at the front of the boat during maneuvers, leaping like a cat to set or douse the spinnaker.
  6. Pit: Coordinates lines and halyards between deck and cockpit, keeping the chaos organized.
  7. Navigator: Tracks position and course, especially on longer offshore legs, and keeps a log for later debriefs.

What Stayed with Me

Leaving the club didn’t mean leaving the habits behind. The discipline of double-checking knots shows up in my code reviews, and the calm breathing before a start line helps when stepping into tough meetings. Even without a crew around me, I still watch the flags and clouds out of sheer reflex.

References

  1. METU Sailing Club
  2. Aegean Offshore Yacht Club
  3. BAYK - Bodrum Offshore Sailing Club
  4. Marmaris International Race Week
  5. Jimmy Key Cup
  6. Baykar Tech
  7. Yacht racing - Wikipedia
  8. Sailing (sport) - Wikipedia

Dr. Ozgur Ural connects the discipline of elite sports to high-performance engineering leadership.

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