VIDEO Aboard the new ICE 66 RS, the fast cruiser (20m) from Farr & Micheletti

THE PERFECT GIFT!

Give or treat yourself to a subscription to the print + digital Journal of Sailing and for only 69 euros a year you get the magazine at home plus read it on your PC, smartphone and tablet. With a sea of advantages.

ICE 66 RS - 6
The new ICE 66 RS (19.90 x 5.70 m) we visited and tested.
The sharp bow opens toward the stern with a significant maximum beam and a large, sheltered cockpit

We were aboard the brand new ICE 66 RS (19.90 x 5.70 m), the Made in Italy performance cruiser just launched by the Italian shipyard, designed by the firm of Bruce Farr (water lines, appendages, naval architecture) and Micheletti+Partners (exterior and interior design).

ICE 66 RS – The onboard video

Why the ICE 66 RS is an interesting boat to discover, we tell you in this video along with Marco Malgara, founder and CEO ICE Yachts, and Lucio Micheletti, owner of Micheletti+Partners.
Also interesting is the on-board instrumentation, which is headed by B&G’s new Hercules system, a “supercomputer” capable of providing all kinds of data in a clear, simple and stable way.


ICE 66 RS – Testing

We have also already tested the ICE 66 RS.
Here are our impressions. As soon as the wind picks up a couple of knots Tapioca, the newly launched ICE 66 RS, instantly accelerates. We look at the instruments, there are 10/12 knots of wind, with the Code 0 at the bow we immediately shoot to 9 knots of speed.
There is no wave in the Gulf of Spice, the boat is glued to the sea like on train tracks.
We move aft to see the wake, no turbulence, the transom stays high, no sinking. With 10 to 12 knots of wind the ICE 66 RS has reached nine knots of speed[/] The helmsman gives small strokes to the heave, otherwise the rudder is always in the middle, a symptom that already on the first outing the boat is already well adjusted.
Good sign.
The new ICE 66 RS is one of the novelties we are previewing on its first sea outing.
How the ICE shipyard builds we know, it is at the top, but we are curious to see if the combination of the American firm Farr Yacht Design, which drew water lines, appendages and overall hull design, and Micheletti+Partner, which did exterior and interior design and layout, worked.
Because it is one thing to design a 142-foot (43.3-meter) megayacht like the famous Baltic Canova where Farr and Micheletti have already collaborated with excellent results.
It is another to try your hand at a boat that is “only” 66 feet (20 meters) long like the ICE 66 RS, which is less than half as long.


Construction

Let’s see what came out of it.
First, however, we start in the analysis from the construction, the responsibility of the ICE Yachts shipyard.
The hull is made of glass/carbon sandwich while the deck is entirely carbon.
The mast of Axxon, too, is made of carbon as is the blade of the single rudder.
This abundant use of carbon, as is Ice’s tradition, make it possible to maintain a relatively light displacement for a nearly 20-meter, 25,000-pound hull and, above all , to place the weights in the right places to make her perform under sail as a design with “racer” lines like this one from Farr needs.

ICE 66 RS - 7
The opening transom, which becomes a small beach, of the new ICE 66 RS.
It conceals a garage that houses a three-meter tender placed transversely

Water lines and hull

Bruce Farr, for those who don’t remember him, is one of the design fathers of modern sailing.
There is no offshore regatta where boats designed by the studio that bears his name are not at the top of the charts.
And his speedy DNA is not betrayed in this ICE 66 RS either.
Taut lines with a sharper bow than its competitors in the high-performance cruising yacht category guarantee the smoothest and most efficient passage over the wave, even with formed seas at the bow.
Volumes, however, are not lacking thanks to a maximum beam of almost 6 meters (m.5.70) that extends to the extreme stern.

The spectacular night lighting.
All the lights are LED

But underneath, where you can’t see, what do Farr’s signature water lines look like?
They are racer’s, flat and full so as to ensure maximum stability of shape and the smallest possible wetted superfcie, both flat and heeled.
This recipe concretely makes the boat more stable, more resistant to heeling under sail, facilitates planing in carrying gaits.
Combine this with the reduced displacement (about 25,000 kg) for a boat that is still a comfortable full-featured cruising boat, and the ICE 66 has excellent performance under sail but also under power.
As we told you before, under sail the first sensations are of a boat that moves and accelerates more like a racer than a cruiser.
In short, a boat with sporty sailing performance without sacrificing comfort, which, as we shall see, is maximum.
The last noteworthy relief is that of the blade and bulb design that made it possible to limit the draft to m.
3.35 m, indispensable to be able to moor and anchor in the Mediterranean in the majority of ports and bays.
We mentioned earlier about motor performance, an element as important as sailing performance.
With the boat in pure cruising trim when we leave the harbor, at 1,300 rpm we immediately reach 6 knots; when we get up to 2,400 rpm, cruising speed, we hold steady at 10.5 knots.
More than satisfied, we don’t dare to ask to go up to flat speed.
I would say it is more than fine as it is, also because we hardly hear the engine running.
How could they have soundproofed it so well?


Side profile

The last remark about Farr’s work is the hull line, especially the side profile.
Vertical bow slightly inverted, transom a few degrees also inverted.
Further slimming the ICE 66 RS is also provided by the stern, which in the final part of the hull rises gently above the water, streamlining the aft part.
A ploy that is not only aesthetic but also hydrodynamic since it thus offers, when the boat is flat, less hydrodynamic resistance. Under the deck plan the ICE 66 RS hides either two three-cabin and three-bathroom or four-cabin and four-bathroom layouts[/] The resulting side profile is that of a boat that to the eye appears to have a lower freeboard than it actually is, making the side profile more streamlined and pleasing.
Credit for this aesthetic balance also goes to the profile of the deckhouse, the work of this new boat’s other prestigious signature, that of the whimsical but also down-to-earth designer Lucio Micheletti and his Milan studio.


Deck and interior

A key contribution Micheletti makes to aesthetic appeal is the deckhouse, which has a unique design that is recognizable from others.
Micheletti, who comes from automotive design, knows that the deckhouse must not only be beautiful but also functional.
In the ICE 66 RS, he has applied his style codes and adapted them to the overall concept of the boat. The square of the ICE 66 RS, dominated by a central island-kitchen area, is of unusual size[/] The result is a deckhouse, one of a kind.
Just high enough to offer discreet but total glazing, even towards the bow.
A deckhouse that seamlessly connects with the paramare that also backs the convivial cockpit area, just high enough to offer shelter from the water.
Micheletti applies in the ICE 66 RS his other layout recipe that has made him famous.
The central galley dominates as an aesthetic and functional element the saloon that is actually an immense (for a boat) practical living and relaxation area. The master suite with king-size bed[/] Another element that characterizes as a yacht to live aboard for a long time as in a home is the master suite, a real room, with a king-size bed. One of the guest cabins[/] We were sorry to get off the ICE 66 RS, a clear symptom that the boat convinced us.
A word of advice, go visit her!


ICE 66 RS – Data Sheet

Construction site: ICE Yachts Project:
Farr Yacht Design&Micheletti+Partners L.f.t.:
19.90 m Gall. length:
18.50 m W.d.:
5.70 m Draft:
3.35 m Displacement:
25 t Sup. sail:
mainsail 276 sq. m (mainsail + jib) Gennaker:
454 sqm Water:
1,000 lt Fuel:
750 lt Engine: Yanmar 143 kw/195 mhp

Share:

Facebook
Twitter
WhatsApp

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Check out the latest issue

Are you already a subscriber?

Ultimi annunci
Our social

Sign up for our Newsletter

We give you a gift

Sailing, its stories, all boats, accessories. Sign up now for our free newsletter and receive the best news selected by the Sailing Newspaper editorial staff each week. Plus we give you one month of GdV digitally on PC, Tablet, Smartphone. Enter your email below, agree to the Privacy Policy and click the “sign me up” button. You will receive a code to activate your month of GdV for free!

Once you click on the button below check your mailbox

Privacy*


Highlights

You may also be interested in.

Register

Chiudi

Registrati




Accedi

Sign in