Factors determining the gulet hull form and a look into the morphological development of the first touristic Bodrum Gulet “Botaş”

Abstract

 This article aims to complete the missing lines in the writing of the history of the evolution of Touristic Bodrum Gulets. Since the early 1960’s, sailing and motor boats destined for touristic purposes have been found in Bodrum region. The article defines the origins of gulets and analyses their morphology. It describes the discovery the very first one specifically designed and built for tourism, introduced in 1967. Signs of government planning and financial support schemes for the development of this archetypial model have also been encountered. 

Contrary to the story told - that gulets have been in the making since hundreds of years, it has been found that the hull form of gulets is relatively new and consists of rather modern lines, compared to other more traditional, classical boats such as tirhandils. The article relates gulets’ hull lines with larger ships according to “the wave-line theory”, a theoretical ship design approach put forward by naval engineer John-Scott Russell and influenced ship design globally, beginning in second half of the 19th century and continued to be influential for many decades.