Just days after debuting at Cannes, the first ICONA inspired by Mangusta yacht has received the Best Exterior Design award at the 2026 World Yachts Trophies. The recognition provides a new development for the model ahead of its display in Genoa from 1 to 6 October.
ICONA 70 is a new sub-24-metre project from EFFEBI NEW PROJECT, founded by the Balducci family and Stefano Arlunno, with construction following Overmarine Group standards. The award was presented at the Yachts France event rather than by an independent technical testing authority, so it is a design accolade and not a statement about sea-trial performance.
Exterior and interior conceived together
Designer Igor Lobanov is responsible for the exterior, interior, ergonomics and helm architecture, allowing the various spaces to follow a coordinated visual idea. The builder says the profile was intended to read as one continuous form, with dark glazing merging into a low, tapered hardtop.
The engine-room air intake uses a 3D-printed honeycomb structure inspired by automotive design, while the anchor and mooring arrangements are kept visually discreet. Those details help explain what the award recognises, beyond the basic dimensions and equipment list.
An aft platform becomes the centre of the yacht
Fold-out wings at the stern increase the beam to more than nine metres when deployed, creating an aft waterside area of over 40 square metres. On a yacht in the sub-24-metre class, that gives outdoor living a particularly prominent role and changes the relationship between cockpit and sea.
The expanding area is intended for guests at anchor rather than simply for access to a bathing ladder. It is nevertheless important for buyers to distinguish the platform's opened dimensions from the yacht's beam in its normal navigation configuration.
Customisation starts with colour
ICONA is also positioning owner-selected interior and exterior colours as an important part of its product identity. Its broader Commission concept offers direct collaboration with the design team for more individual specifications, although the exact scope has to be agreed on a particular order.
That approach uses some of the visual cues familiar from high-end automotive design without turning the yacht into a road-vehicle conversion. The underlying project remains a purpose-built motor yacht, engineered and constructed for operation at sea.
Genoa follows the award
Following its Monaco Yacht Show appearance, ICONA 70 is scheduled for Genoa's Dock H during the six-day exhibition. The builder's published schedule gives Italian buyers a further opportunity to inspect the model after the world debut and subsequent award.
For LYG readers, the separate news here is the design recognition and confirmed next show, not a repeated claim that the yacht has just made its world premiere. The official announcement also sets out how the deployable stern and integrated design distinguish this inaugural ICONA model.
