Two new performance cruisers blend ICE Yachts' racing experience with long range comfort, carbon construction and variable draft keels.
ICE Yachts is bringing two new sailing yachts to market: the ICE80 Blue Water, its new 24m flagship, and the ICE70 Sport, a performance cruiser built around a proven 70 foot platform. Both were developed with Felci Yacht Design, continuing a relationship between the Italian yard and Umberto Felci's studio that now stretches back around a decade.
Carbon features extensively in each boat, although their structures are quite different.
Two new builds, one decade-long design partnership
ICE Yachts, based in Salvirola in Italy's Lombardy region, was founded in 2012 and manages its production process in house. The yard builds sailing yachts from 52 to 80 feet, and its collaboration with Felci Yacht Design has produced the ICE70 among other notable models over the past decade.
ICE80 Blue Water: the new flagship
At 23.99m LOA with a 6.53m beam, the ICE80 Blue Water becomes ICE Yachts' new flagship and takes the yard further into the large luxury performance cruiser market. The project was originally announced in 2024 as the ICE 80 Blue Water Sport, before the finished boat was presented for Cannes 2026 under the simpler ICE80 Blue Water name.
An APM carbon telescopic keel adjusts draft between 3.10m and 4.70m, with displacement at 37 tonnes. Power comes from a Cummins 4.6 litre, 250hp engine, backed by twin 10.5kW Mase generators running in parallel. A 48V electrical system reduces cable size and reduces weight. Steering uses JP3 race specification components with an autoclave-cured carbon rudder stock. The rig carries 180m² of mainsail, 155m² on the jib and a 500m² gennaker, on a high-modulus carbon mast with in-boom furling. Hull, deck and structures are built entirely in carbon using vacuum infusion.
The variable draft matters beyond the racecourse. Bringing the keel up reduces draft by 1.6m, opening considerably more cruising and marina options for a yacht of this size, the kind of practical range that turns a fast passage-maker into a genuine gunkholing boat as well.
The first hull launched in late July, ahead of its scheduled Cannes premiere. Yachting News reported that the boat entered sea trials following its late July launch, with delivery to her owner expected before Cannes. The same report notes a dedicated racing version is expected in 2027.
ICE70 Sport: performance cruising on a proven platform
At 21.30m LOA and 5.76m beam, the ICE70 Sport carries a Cariboni hydraulic lifting keel that varies draft from 2.75m to 4.47m, with displacement at 27.03 tonnes. Unlike the ICE80, the ICE70 Sport's hull is a glass and carbon hybrid, with the deck built entirely in carbon. A Yanmar 4LV, 230hp engine drives the boat through a V-drive shaft line, and Harken electric winches handle the load on the boat's carbon rig.
The ICE70 Sport can draw just 2.75m with its keel raised, while still extending to 4.47m when maximum sailing performance is wanted, a swing that matters enormously on a 21.3m performance cruiser looking to slip into shallower harbours without giving up upwind bite offshore.
The ICE70 Sport builds on a well established 70 foot platform and the performance thinking seen in earlier ICE70 and ICE70 RS models, though ICE Yachts presents it as the latest addition to its Sport range rather than a direct replacement for either.
ICE Yachts grows beyond Italy
ICE Yachts now generates 75 per cent of its turnover from exports. In December 2025, the yard won the Velocità, Nautica e Motori category of the Premio Giovani Imprese Altagamma, a programme run with Borsa Italiana, ELITE, Euronext Group and SDA Bocconi School of Management that recognises emerging Italian high-end brands.
Both the ICE80 Blue Water and the ICE70 Sport will have their world premiere at the Cannes Yachting Festival, running 8 to 13 September 2026.
