The summer holidays in Turkey, where Mistikoğlu is from, are long. She and her twin sister spent most of their time on the iPad. Such a waste, their parents thought and sent them to the local sailing school. A perfect idea: for five years, Mistikoğlu took part in various races in an Optimist, a small single-handed sailing dinghy. In Turkey, but also in Italy and Greece. She spent hours on the water every weekend.
By the age of fourteen, she was slowly becoming too big, so she switched to a larger boat, where she also had to work together with a team. “But all the principles of sailing are the same in every boat. What I had learned those first years in the Optimist, are the same things I apply to this day.”
Her last two years in Turkey, she sailed in Istanbul. “In the summer months, she flew there in order to be able to participate in as many races as possible.” An expensive hobby, or so it seems, but the team paid for the races and the boat. “I only had to pay for my travelling expenses and my board while there. My parents helped me out a lot with that.”
Sailing CV
When the time came to choose a study, sailing played a minor role, she said. “Sailing is my passion, but I don’t want to make it my profession. That is possible, but then you will always have a supporting role. Boat maintenance, for example, I would not like that. I saw that Maastricht had a sailing association and that was enough for me.”
For two years, she has sailed fanatically with Lagakari, the Maastricht student sailing association. In 2021/2022 she was even chairperson. Especially during the Covid pandemic, she spent a “lot of time” on the water. This experience all added up on her ‘sailing CV’. She sent it to an Italian sailing team when she saw an advertisement on Instagram for a competition that is famous in the world of sailing: the Ocean Globe Race.
Ezgim Mistikoğlu (left) and the rest of the crew
Mistikoğlu: “They were looking for a crew to participate in the fiftieth edition of the race.” That is extra special, because they are sailing by the same rules and using the same material that they did fifty years ago, she explains. This means, among others, that no modern equipment (GPS and weather warnings) can be used and that participants must determine their location on the basis of the stars and the sun. But also the (international) team must consist of 70 per cent amateurs, including at least one person who is younger than 24 and at least one woman. “That is me.”
The race consists of four legs, says Mistikoğlu. “From Europe to Cape Town, from South Afrika to New Zealand and then via Uruguay back to Europe. Each leg takes about two months.”
Star-spangled sky
Her sailing CV appealed to the team and as an ‘audition’ she was allowed to sail with them for two days, from Italy to Spain. That also went well and she made the selection. “That means that I am one of the four girls in the team, but it doesn’t mean that I get to be on board during the Ocean Globe Race.” You have to see it like a football team, she explains. It is bigger than the eleven people on the pitch, the rest is sitting on the bench. To determine who is allowed to hoist the sail during the big race, there was a dress rehearsal: three weeks on the Atlantic Ocean.
The boat during the race
Last January, Mistikoğlu sailed a race with the team from Cape Town to Rio de Janeiro. What was that like? “Fantastic”. She glows as she says it. “It was terrific to be out on the open sea, not have any land in sight as far as you could see. You feel very free. It is not scary at all, because you know that you have a couple of very experienced sailors with you.”
What does a day on the boat look like? “It is a large boat, twenty metres long, and has a small galley, a bed for everyone, three showers and three toilets. We have six-hour shifts. In the hours when it is your turn, you feel the pressure to perform. It is a race and of course you know that you are being watched. You want to make the selection, so you show your best side.” During the time that Mistikoğlu was free, she slept, enjoyed the peace and the sunrises and sunsets, the open star-spangled sky, or listened to music on her phone. Something that won’t be allowed if she is selected for the big race. “Only cassette tapes are allowed. Really, everything has to go as it did fifty years ago.”
Mother
The first week on the boat, there was still meat and other fresh produce that we could eat, says Mistikoğlu. “I was lucky, because ten of the people on board were Italians. They are fantastic cooks.” After that, we had to make do with non-perishables: pastas, potatoes, rice, et cetera. We showered and washed dishes with salt water. “Only at the very end were we allowed to rinse off quickly with fresh water.”
In the end, the boat that Mistikoğlu was on came in fourth. A good result. What about sea sickness or home sickness? Not a problem with either, she says. “I would have loved it to have lasted longer.” So, everything really worked out well? “One of the poles broke along the way, fortunately we had a spare one. And the appliance to make fresh water from salt water was broken for a while. That was tense for a bit, but it was quickly repaired.” A rough sea was never cause for panic. “We had a whole lot of experience on board. The leader of the crew is a legend in the world of sailing.”
The most difficult thing about the trip was the conversation beforehand with my parents. “Especially my mother, she found it very nerve-racking that I was unreachable for so long. I told them bit by bit. Eventually my mother flew to Rio to pick me up. We spent another two weeks there on holiday. That was possible, because I only need to write my thesis. We visited all the touristy places, a really fun holiday.”
During the return trip from Rio to Cape Town, it was up to the other two women from the selection to show what they were capable of. Whether Mistikoğlu will be allowed to sail in one of the legs of the Ocean Globe Race, she will hear later this year. The first leg will start in September.