Adriatic Croatia International Club


Adriatic Croatia International Club, commonly referred to as ACI Club or simply ACI, is a Croatian nautical tourism company based in Opatija which operates a marina chain along the Croatian part of the Adriatic coast. From the initial 16 marinas opened in 1986 they expanded to 22 in 2016, which makes it the largest chain of marinas in the Mediterranean as of 2016. ACI is also known for organizing the annual match racing sailing regatta called the "ACI Match Race Cup", first held in 1987.

History

ACI was originally established on 1 July 1983 as a state-owned company with the aim of promoting nautical tourism. It was originally called Adriatic Club Yugoslavia, which was changed in 1991 to Adriatic Yacht Club, although they continued using the ACY shortname. In June 1994, after it underwent privatization, the company was re-established as a joint-stock company, adopted its current name and changed their shortname to ACI Club accordingly.
ACI is also the biggest single member of the Croatian Association of Marinas, the national trade association of around 50 individual marinas operating in Croatian waters, meaning that ACI controls nearly half of all marinas in the country. The company's shares are listed on the Zagreb Stock Exchange, although a 79% majority stake is held by the state-owned Croatian Privatization Fund as of December 2009.

Marinas

The company's initial 16 marinas were built between 1982 and 1985 and opened for tourists in the summer of 1986. The marinas in Korčula and Opatija followed and opened in 1989 and 1990. In January 1991 the independently operated Dubrovnik marina was integrated into the company's network and in 1994 marinas at Cres and Šimuni were added. In July 2016 the newest ACI marina opened in Slano, named by ACI's founder Veljko Barbieri. The company thus operates a total of 22 marinas as of 2016, making it the largest single marina chain in the entire Mediterranean. Out of the 22 marinas 18 are open year-round while the remaining four operate during summer months only. The northernmost marina is in Umag while the southernmost is in Dubrovnik.
The following is the complete list of ACI marinas:
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MarinaLocationOpenBerthsCoordinates
ACI CresIsland of CresYear-round450
ACI DubrovnikDubrovnikYear-round450
ACI JezeraIsland of MurterYear-round200
ACI KorčulaIsland of KorčulaYear-round135
ACI MilnaIsland of BračYear-round190
ACI Opatija-IčićiOpatijaYear-round300
ACI PalmižanaIsland of Sveti KlementMarch–October160
ACI PiškeraIsland of PiškeraMarch–October150
ACI PomerPulaYear-round220
ACI PulaPulaYear-round200
ACI RabIsland of RabMarch–October140
ACI RovinjRovinjYear-round380
ACI ŠimuniIsland of PagYear-round175
ACI SkradinSkradinYear-round200
ACI SlanoSlanoYear-round200
ACI SplitSplitYear-round360
ACI Supetarska DragaIsland of RabYear-round270
ACI TrogirTrogirYear-round180
ACI UmagUmagYear-round518
ACI VodiceVodiceYear-round415
ACI VrboskaIsland of HvarYear-round85
ACI ŽutIsland of ŽutMarch–October120

Match race cup

ACI also organizes the annual match racing sailing event called "ACI Match Race Cup". First held in 1987, it usually takes place in the waters near Rovinj or Split. Race results are counted towards the International Sailing Federation World Rankings. Irish skipper Harold Cudmore won the inaugural event in 1987, and Australian Peter Gilmour has most wins overall, winning the event five times.
The following is the complete list of winning skippers:

  • 1987 – Harold Cudmore
  • 1988 – Chris Dickson
  • 1989 – Paul Cayard
  • 1990 – Paul Cayard
  • 1991 – Russell Coutts
  • 1992 – Chris Dickson
  • 1993 – Peter Gilmour
  • 1994 – Peter Gilmour
  • 1995 – Peter Gilmour
  • 1996 – Russell Coutts
  • 1997 – Peter Gilmour
  • 1998 – Andy Beadsworth
  • 1999 – Sten Mohr
  • 2000 – Dean Barker
  • 2001 – Dean Barker
  • 2002 – Philippe Presti
  • 2003 – Jesper Radich
  • 2004 – Bertrand Pacé
  • 2005 – Peter Gilmour
  • 2006 – Johnie Berntsson
  • 2007 – Paolo Cian
  • 2008 – Paolo Cian
  • 2009 – Roberto Ferrarese
  • 2010 – Mate Arapov
  • 2011 – Tomislav Bašić
  • 2012 – Tomislav Bašić