Ice Yachts arrives at the Cannes and Genoa boat shows with a trio of boats that boast a lot of innovation. Proof of this is provided by a ‘jam session’ of well-skilled nautical protagonists, which contribute to the young Italian shipyard with an experience matured and derived from sectors even transversal to the nautical sector. In charge of naval architecture for ICE Yachts is Umberto Felci. But the new futuristic project of ICE 66RS also involves Farr Yacht for the hull design and Pure Design + Engineering for the exteriors. These are well-known professionals in the nautical world, coordinated by Marco Malgara, sole director and founder of the Salvirola-based yard.
ICE Yachts: innovative yachting
The code of ICE Yachts’ imprinting is undoubtedly sailing. There is also an entrepreneurial initiative, the one born not from a business need but rather from a private need driven by a nautical passion. Marco Malgara was looking for a boat for himself, but he didn’t feel satisfied by what the market offered him, so he set up a shipyard to build it. And this is the genenis of the company. The yard still churn out carbon gems: monohulls and multihulls. First the ICE 62, then the successful 52, which was chosen by 14 owners. This is how ICE Yachts was born, the same company that will join the Cannes Yachting Festival with a trio of aces that will make the Porto Canto docks vibrate. You can bet on it. Because when you look at the ICE 70, the 60 and the 52RS EVO, there is an undeniable pride in Made in Italy nautical style that is spreading throughout the sailing world, also thanks to ICE Yachts.
ICE Yachts: ICE 70 at Cannes Yachting Festival
The ICE 70 launched this years is a ‘Stradivarius‘, it has been said. Highly anticipated on the market, she requires the expert eye of those who know how to recognize a yacht that has a lot to tell about her sailing performance. “Blue water cruiser“is the Anglo-Saxon extraction of the category that best defines this boat born (also in this case) from the meeting of two personalities such as Marco Malgara and Umberto Felci. So much construction experience also leads to a simplification of the art of sailing. Therefore ICE 70, according to the chosen setting, can sail in solitary with only its captain on board. The two 2.8-meter-deep wheels look out over a deck that is almost as wide as a parade ground, where the deckhouse disappears as thin as a sole. Everything is controlled from the two wheels: the jib and the mainsail. The rest is put together: vang, gennaker and backstay. The discreet bowsprit, from which the anchor is also hauled, marks the bow end, stopping the ruler of the overall length at 21.30 meters. The maximum beam moved aft is 5.76 meters. The (Cariboni) keel is retractable, from 2.80 meters to 4.50.
Materials: ICE 70 is built in composite using the infusion technique and sees abundant presence of carbon on the deck, structures and hull. Entering below deck in the sound box of the Stradivarius one feels a sense of enveloping protection, and silence. The amazement at the beauty of the materials chosen is inevitable to anyone. Just look at the galley, the navy blue vein of the lacquered and shiny shelves. Be careful, however, because the sense of refined atmosphere is that of a sailing boat and not that of a Palladian villa. The ICE 70 seeks the wind, ans in the wind she has a classic attitude despite her innovative materials. The ICE 70 and ICE 52RS EVO will be exhibited at the Cannes Yachting Festival, from September 7-12, berth SAIL 194/SAIL 045. For boat visits, please call the following number: +39 0373729220.
ICE 52RS EVO: a very up-to-date yacht
The helmsman who tested the ICE 52RS EVO, Giacomo Ferrari, at the end of 2020 reported his impressions using these words: “ confidence at the helm as if I were on my 470” and then he added: “ a winning combination of technological construction and gritty design with a classicism typical of my 470 class”. The ICE 52RS EVO features a Weldox steel fin, Axxon carbon rig, two rudder wheels (the axle is carbon) and is 250 kilograms lighter than the basic ICE 52 model. It boasts carefully developed hydrodynamics that improve its performance when upwind. Overall length is 15.80 meters, with a maximum beam of 14.84 meters and a draft of 2.80. The sailing cruise, below deck, can be experienced entering the deckhouse walled descending from the stairs of the cockpit: the dislocation of the interior sees the galley on the left, and among the rest there is a master cabin in the bow, equipped with private head.
ICE 60 at the 61st Genoa Boat Show
ICE 60 will be moored at the 61st Genoa Boat Show to be admired and because “she’s a true faster cruiser of the highest quality”as her designer Umberto Felci and the shipyard explain. The yacht features a reverse scimitar bow, sandwich construction with extensive use of glass and carbon, the same material that also makes up the mast. Perfect for racing, ICE 60 is also an extraordinary family cruiser. The length stops under 18 meters just to counter the contingency of port mooring fees. Interior configuration is available with 3 or 4 cabins and 2/3 heads.
The garage for water toys houses an inflatable tender of more than 3 meters (when inflated). Also on the ICE 70, the stabilizing fin is in Weldox steel with high mechanical characteristics and “a lead torpedo milled with numerical control offering the advantage of reducing the weight of the ballast and therefore the total displacement of the boat, with the same righting moment“. Now that the ice has been broken, all that’s left to do is seize the opportunity and go the boat shows to see the ICE range live.