Toby Hodges steps aboard the newly announced ICE 70 designed by Umberto Felci for high performance cruising and racing. Additional text by Rupert Holmes

The ICE 70 is a gorgeous Umberto Felci design and has been conceived for fast cruising and racing at the highest levels, both with full and reduced crews and promises to combine elegance with the latest technologies, high performance and versatility.

Three ICE 70s have been sold so far, to owners in Italy, Mexico and Germany. The first of these three, Thalassa2 made its public debut at the 2021 Cannes Yachting Festival.

It was at Cannes that Yachting World’s boat test editor, Toby Hodges, stepped onboard to provide a full tour of the yacht and take it for a brief sail.

The yacht itself features some beautifully crisp styling which contributes to a tremendously clean aesthetic, with huge unobstructed deck areas and a very low profile coachroof.

Visually the cockpit coamings are an extension of the coachroof line and even the large instrument pods at each helm station are shaped to echo the lines of the cabin top.

In  terms of the hull shape, Felci has created a very contemporary yacht with the ICE 70 featuring high form stability, but without excess wetted surface area, especially when heeled. Carbon fibre has been used extensively in the construction, and makes up something in the region of 30% of the fibres used in construction. All the structural components on the ICE 70 are of vacuum infused epoxy laminate.

As Toby found when touring the boat, the interior specified for this first boat is simple and uncluttered, underlining the yacht’s refined and streamlined nature.

The ICE 70 under sail

ICE 70 out on the water

The owner’s cabin and a twin guest cabin are forward, ahead of a large and elegant saloon. Aft is the captain’s cabin, which has direct access to the galley, located in the port quarter.

We are told that the second ICE 70 to be built will have a slightly different layout, with more space for guests a key factor. As such, the second one will feature two large ensuite aft cabins that are convertible between twin and double configurations, plus a smaller Pullman cabin.

The galley in this boat is forward of the keel case, with the owner’s suite forward of this. There’s also a very compact ensuite crew cabin in the bows that can double as a sail locker when necessary. In all cases furniture is mostly of veneered sandwich panels to minimise weight.

Both boats have an unusually large tender garage, with space for a 4.2m (13ft) RIB, that reduces accommodation volume in the aft end of the boat.

ICE 70 Specifications:

Hull: length 21.3m / 69ft 11in
LWL: 19.8m / 65ft 0in
Beam: 5.75m / 18ft 10in
Draught: 2.75m-4.30m / 9ft 0in-14ft 1in
Displacement: 26,500kg / 58,400lb
Price: €2,580,000 ex VAT.
Builder: iceyachts.it


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