“If no one will finish her, I will.” Turkish billionaire Vural Ak is clearly a man who does not leave business unfinished. After an early stumble with his first car-rental venture, he built a national fleet company, revived an F1 circuit, and ultimately created his own shipyard. The Istanbul-born racer and collector owns the 279-foot explorer Victorious. The name fits. This is the ship that built AKYACHT in Marmara, not the other way around. The dream of ruling the high seas came naturally after tasting success with Intercity, widely described as Turkey’s leading rental and fleet-leasing company, controlling more than 50,000 vehicles. Ak has everything a petrolhead could want on land, from an enormous collection of sports cars and muscle cars to classics like the 1929 Packard Eight. He wanted a machine that could take him where cars could not, and he approached it like an engineer.
In the mid-2010s he nearly made it happen with Susitna, a U.S. Navy experimental ice-capable catamaran, but that fell through. The search led him to an extraordinary 77-meter project in New Zealand, begun by businessman Graeme Hart. The steel hull had started in Chile, then moved to New Zealand, and would later travel on to Turkey, all without engines. Victorious, initially a steel ghost, circled the globe for roughly 37,000 nautical miles with no engines running and no owner on board. If she could do one and a half laps of the equator without power, imagine the possibilities once she was properly equipped.
Turkey’s most successful car-rental entrepreneur then began a determined hunt for an established European yard to complete the ship. No yard would touch a heavily modified, half-built project with bespoke demands. After six months of refusals, the owner of Intercity Istanbul Park, the F1 circuit he revived and operates, decided to establish AKYACHT in the Kocaeli Free Trade Zone, about an hour from Istanbul. Work began in 2016. It took nearly four years, and Victorious finally hit the water in April 2020. Below is the story of the yard she birthed, and the yacht that made it necessary.
The AKYACHT, the yard a yacht forced into existence-
“I spent more than six months trying to find a suitable place to finish the boat according to my needs,” Ak says. “Since I am not a stranger to the industry, I decided to open and establish my own shipyard.” The gearhead tycoon had big plans, including a six-meter stern extension and a two-meter bowsprit to bring the yacht to a new overall length of 85 meters. The journey began with a plot near Gölcük in the Marmara region. On roughly 15,000 square meters of waterfront, the towed hull arrived from Auckland to İzmit, and AKYACHT was literally born out of Victorious’s steel skeleton. Ak worked closely with H2 Yacht Design, and the completed project made its public debut at the 2021 Monaco Yacht Show.
Today, the yard runs a climate-controlled 90-meter shed plus a 60-meter sister shed with full workshops. It is ISO 9001 and Lloyd’s certified, with a skilled team of more than 100 specialists in joinery, paint, piping, machinery, electrical, engineering, and project management. The site also includes two hangars, along with in-house joinery and carpentry departments. As Ak puts it, “Although I have more than 10 companies in 10 different sectors, this is the only business that has my family name. There are many international shipbuilding brands more than 100 years old, and I have huge respect for them. We will try to be one of them.” In 2023, AKYACHT signed a contract for a custom build of more than 100 meters, scheduled for 2027 delivery.
Victorious superyacht, where a hull created a home-
Victorious is not a monument to ego or a flashy display of wealth. It is the machine of a family-minded builder with a never-say-die streak. Exterior styling by Michael Leach Design gives Victorious her purposeful explorer stance, while H2 Yacht Design shaped the warm, clubby interiors, including the signature top-deck lounge. “We have a family with three kids, and we have many friends with children, which is why we have 12 cabins on this yacht for private use so that it does not become crowded,” Ak says. “We also added features like a kids’ club, because I know that if you do not keep the children busy and happy, your journey is not enjoyable.”
The yacht is thoughtfully planned for every age group. While children have space of their own, adults gravitate to a gentlemen’s-club-style lounge by H2 Yacht Design. This unique room features a cigar humidor, wine wall, and cocktail bar, anchored by an angular, real wood-burning marble fireplace that gives the space its character. Smoke-treated leathers and dedicated filtration make evenings as relaxing as they are indulgent, and there is a terrace aft for conversations under the stars.
Victorious also reflects Ak’s racing DNA. Guest cabins carry nameplates of famous F1 circuits, and the master suite is christened “Istanbul Park,” tying his racetrack to the bridge deck. The engineering-driven owner specified American National Standards for bathroom fixtures. “I studied at an American university, and the taps on campus were more than 100 years old,” he says. “I thought if they are still working after all that time, I want them on my boat.” The fireplace brief was equally exacting, so the yard designed extra insulation, separate HVAC and extraction, and space for roughly two tons of wood.
As a 279-foot steel explorer, Victorious offers a range of about 14,000 nautical miles at 13 knots, a hospital-capable cabin, and a beach club with a heated pool, hammam, massage room, and lounge. She sleeps 24 guests in 12 suites. The tender line-up includes a 42-foot aluminum catamaran limousine built by AKYACHT, a smaller Fountain center-console with triple outboards, a MasterCraft Pro Series wake boat, multiple jet skis, e-foils, and boards. Victorious is available for charter from about $950,000 per week.
Victorious is a winner’s story, not a petrostate palace or a tech trophy. It is a place of merriment for friends and family, and a particularly fitting stage for a former rental-car hustler turned motorsport boss. Ak survived bankruptcies, took over Turkey’s Formula 1 track, and turned an abandoned hull into a revenue-earning vessel that led to his own shipyard. Victorious is less a toy and more a floating autobiography.
