Yonca Shipyard, a renowned Turkish shipbuilder with a solid reputation in the defense and law enforcement sectors, is now making a strategic shift towards the super sail market with the launch of its Mishi Yachts brand. This move marks a significant shift for the shipyard as it applies its decades of expertise to the superyacht sector.
Founded in 1986 and located in Tuzla, near Istanbul, Yonca Shipyard has an impressive legacy of building over 180 ships and boats. The shipyard spans 44,000 square meters, with nearly half of this space dedicated to indoor facilities, allowing for the construction of large vessels up to 160 feet in length and weighing over 400 tonnes.
While Yonca has the capability to build with steel, aluminium, and wood, the shipyard specializes in high-speed composite vessels. These boats, including fast intervention craft and patrol boats, are noted for their robustness and impressive performance, achieving speeds between 40 and 80 knots.
The introduction of Mishi Yachts is led by the vision of Şakir Yılmaztürk, Chairman and founder of Yonca Shipyard. “Yonca is exceedingly well-known in defence and as the skilled builder behind other yachting brands,” Yılmaztürk noted. “But we are branching out in the leisure sector. We are taking the skills and capabilities honed over 36 years and bringing it to superyachting in a new venture we have named Mishi Yachts. Our debut designs are for an 88ft and a 102ft luxury sailing yachts.“
These new models promise to cater to the demanding tastes of the luxury sailing community, combining Yonca’s heritage of robust engineering with the refined aesthetics required in the superyacht market. The shipyard’s transition into luxury sailing is supported by its established track record of collaborating with leading naval architects and designers to meet high standards of performance and design.
In addition to its design and engineering prowess, Yonca Shipyard boasts in-house capabilities in producing flawless composite work—from CNC milling of the initial tooling to the vacuum infusion process used to create large fibreglass structures. The shipyard’s comprehensive finishing abilities, which include sophisticated woodworking and stainless steel fabrication, are critical components in their ability to produce luxury yachts that meet the exacting standards of the leisure market.
As Mishi Yachts enters the competitive world of luxury sailing, Yılmaztürk remains optimistic about the brand’s potential to inspire and attract discerning sailors. “We are as excited by every new project today as we were when we first launched in 1986,” he said. “Our reputation rests on our skill with composite work, as well as our ability to design and engineer complex, demanding projects and deliver them on time and on budget. I believe that it is time to bring those skills to a wider market and capture the growth that is our due.“