Transfer Of Power

Turquoise builds a yacht for one family that ends up being ideal for another.

- Jill Bobrow

Can one family’s dream yacht translate into a dream yacht for another? If the yacht has pedigree and all the right ingredients, then the answer is yes.

Razan, now named ROE, is a case in point. The 154-foot (47-meter) Turquoise launched in 2017, made her world debut at the Cannes Yachting Festival in September and garnered the attention of a gentleman who was not actually in the market for a yacht of her nature. Once aboard, he became so smitten that he made a repeat visit at the Monaco Yacht Show. Subsequently, a deal was struck for the turnkey yacht.

The sale was an important milestone for Istanbul-based Turquoise Yachts, which was founded in 1997 as ProteksanTurquoise and delivered 20 superyachts from 131 feet to 236 feet (40 meters to 72 meters). In 2014, MB Holding Company became the majority shareholder, changed the company’s name to Turquoise Yachts and invested in new and expanded facilities. Mehmet Karabeyoglu, one of the founders, remained as CEO.

The restructured company then acquired an in-build hull and superstructure from an Italian yard, moved the pieces to Turkey and continued the build as the first Turquoise project.

“While she was a very well designed boat to start with,” Karabeyoglu says, “we didn’t use any of the existing drawings. Along with H2 Yacht Design, we designed everything from scratch with fresh, clean, sharper lines.”