Aicon 72 Open: Mediterranean style

Written by Miquel Mallafré Translation Marco Benevento

On board

User Rating: / 1
PoorBest 

The Aicon 72 Open is the first model without fly bridge from this young Sicilian shipyard. In fact, it is not an open model, but a coupe or a sedan, in which the light and the functionality predominate. Presented to the public at the Cannes Boat show in 2005, it was also exhibited in Barcelona, where we had the opportunity to sail on the first unit launched of this model.

Aicon is a young Sicilian shipyard that entered the international market on the occasion of the 2001 Genoa Boat show, when they presented their Aicon 56. But the history of the company goes a little bit back in time and is directly connected to its creator, the architect Lino Siclari. Born in Sicily, Siclari began his professional career in the decoration of retail shops and show rooms in Milan, where he studied architecture. In 1982 he created Arcom and in 1986 he acquired an industrial estate in Sicily to manufacture the pieces that he designed. Arcom designed and manufactured commercial facilities in wood and steel for hotels and airports.
The relation with the yachting scene began in 1991 when Fincantieri ordered to them the decoration of large cruisers and in 1993 Aicon was created to produce decoration works in the nautical field, to the point that in 1998 it became the most important supplier of Azimut, with thirty employees from Aicon working at the Azimut facilities in Avigliana, near Torino.The next step was to purchase a shipyard in Viareggio to acquire the necessary knowledge in the construction of yachts.The chosen brand was Aicon, of which Siclari became president and general manager, and in this way the Antago 56, which became the Aicon 56 was born, already built in Giammoro, Sicily. After that the 54 and 64 feet models followed, all of them with fly bridge and at the occasion of 2005 Cannes Boat show the 72 Open was presented to the public. Nowadays the company has more than 230 employees in its three production centres in Sicily, plus a subsidiar y branch specialized in charter and a nautical centre for the repair and maintenance of luxur y boats. With 55 boats built in the 2004-2005 period, the news is that on the past 4 of July the board of directors decided to initiate the process to float the company on the stock market and to obtain therefore the necessary financial funding to approach the new growth projects, with a range that includes the 54, 56, 64 and 85 models with fly bridge and the 62 and 72 open models. 

The largest of the open range

The Aicon 72 Open is the largest one of both models of the open typology of the actual range of this Sicilian shipyard, characterized by a design developed by a young design team headed by Marco Mannino, that has its identity signs in formal elements such as the circular port holes, the large lateral window on the hull, also with circular shape, or the large windows of the superstructure with the par ticularity that these are much lower astern, to offer better views from the outside.
A strongpoint of the boat are its large outer spaces and also the transparency of the main deck, because to the impor tance of the windows already commented, equipped with a section of electrical opening, it is necessary to add the sliding roof, so that the intensity of the light and the natural ventilation can be regulated at ones will.
The cockpit has large dimensions, with a large sun bathing area in the centre and another one on an elevation on the bow that acts as a separator of this great surface at the time that it allows its use either as header when sun bathing, or as a backrest of a sofa facing the bow, where a table with folding wings has been installed and that will allow to eat outdoors. The handrails that surround the aft part of the solarium have two movable sections so that, when the yacht is navigating, they can act as a separation door between the cockpit itself and the bathing platform. The platform also presents remarkable dimensions and its central section has adjustable inclination to facilitate the launching of the tender that is in fact in the garage concealed under the solarium.
Details of this area of the boat are the hidden hydraulic gangway on the port side, the manoeuvre elements located on individual steps on each one of the quarters, the service piece of furniture located next to the entrance of the cabin or the retractable awning that hides inside the poop deck and that will provide shade to a good part of the cockpit.
The lateral corridors are wide and are covered in teak, just as the rest of the deck; the handrails have a good height, but the fibreglass of the hull only raises enough on the bulwark, with the purpose of not reducing the perspectives that are enjoyed from the interior. The fore deck is mainly destined to the solarium, but respecting a zenith illumination and natural ventilation hatch of the VIP cabin. The manoeuvre is well worked out, with the closed pulpit, the fairleads placed in a recess on the bulwark and the cleats raised on individual pieces of fibre that stand out between the teak strips; the warping end and the cable lifter of the windlass, as well, stand out through a fibre tray, with the intention of avoiding to stain the wood with the chain.

More in Super Yachts Review nº 030