Adriatic Croatia International Club

Adriatic Croatia
International Club d.d.
Type Public (ZSE: ACI)
Industry Nautical tourism
Founded 1 July 1983
Headquarters Opatija, Croatia
Key people Anto Violić (CEO)
Net income HRK 17.6 million (2009) from HRK 11.0 million in 2008[1]
Employees 400 (2005)[2]
Website www.aci-club.hr

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 21 in 1994, which makes it the largest chain of marinas in the Mediterranean as of 2010. ACI is also known for organizing the annual match racing sailing regatta called the "ACI Match Race Cup", first held in 1987.

Contents

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 (ACY), which was changed in 1991 to Adriatic Yacht Club (due to the breakup of Yugoslavia and Croatia's independence), although they continued using the ACY shortname.[3] 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.[3]

ACI is also the biggest single member of the Croatian Association of Marinas (Croatian: Udruženje hrvatskih marina), 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.[4] The company's shares are listed on the Zagreb Stock Exchange (ZSE), although a 79% majority stake is held by the state-owned Croatian Privatization Fund (HFP) as of December 2009.[5] In May 2010 ACI announced that they were looking for investors willing to fund a new expansion cycle which would include three new large megayacht marinas in the Adriatic.[4]

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. The company thus operates a total of 21 marinas as of 2010, making it the largest single marina chain in the entire Mediterranean.[6][7] Out of the 21 marinas 17 are open year-round while the remaining four (Palmižana, Piškera, Rab and Žut) 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:[7]

Marina Location Open Berths Coordinates
ACI Cres Island of Cres Year-round 450
ACI Dubrovnik Dubrovnik Year-round 450
ACI Jezera Island of Murter Year-round 200
ACI Korčula Island of Korčula Year-round 135
ACI Milna Island of Brač Year-round 190
ACI Opatija-Ičići Opatija Year-round 300
ACI Palmižana Island of Sveti Klement March–October 160
ACI Piškera Island of Piškera March–October 150
ACI Pomer Pula Year-round 220
ACI Pula Pula Year-round 200
ACI Rab Island of Rab March–October 140
ACI Rovinj Rovinj Year-round 380
ACI Šimuni Island of Pag Year-round 175
ACI Skradin Skradin Year-round 200
ACI Split Split Year-round 360
ACI Supetarska Draga Island of Rab Year-round 270
ACI Trogir Trogir Year-round 180
ACI Umag Umag Year-round 518
ACI Vodice Vodice Year-round 415
ACI Vrboska Island of Hvar Year-round 85
ACI Žut Island of Žut March–October 120

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 (in 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997 and 2005).[8]

The following is the complete list of winning skippers:[8]

  • 2007 – Paolo Cian (ITA)
  • 2008 – Paolo Cian (ITA)
  • 2009 – Roberto Ferrarese (ITA)
  • 2010 – Mate Arapov (CRO)
  • 2011 – Tomislav Bašić (CRO)

References

  1. ^ Herceg, Damir (16 April 2010). "Od nautičara ove godine 20 posto veća zarada" (in Croatian). Vjesnik. http://www.vjesnik.hr/html/2010/04/16/Clanak.asp?r=gos&c=3. Retrieved 8 November 2010. 
  2. ^ Rogošić, Žejlko (25 January 2005). "Počela borba HDZ-a i SDP-a za kontrolu privatizacije ACI-ja" (in Croatian). Nacional. http://www.nacional.hr/clanak/11274/pocela-borba-hdz-a-i-sdp-a-za-kontrolu-privatizacije-aci-ja. Retrieved 7 November 2010. 
  3. ^ a b "ACI d.d." (in Croatian). Croatian Privatization Fund. http://www.hfp.hr/UserDocsImages/portfelji/hr/ACI.doc. Retrieved 7 November 2010. 
  4. ^ a b Crnjak, Marija (20 May 2010). "Violić: Do sredine iduće godine ACI će biti 'očišćen' od svih dugova i kredita" (in Croatian). Poslovni dnevnik. http://www.poslovni.hr/vijesti/violic-do-sredine-iduce-godine-aci-ce-biti-ociscen-od-svih-dugova-i-kredita-148179.aspx. Retrieved 7 November 2010. 
  5. ^ Crnjak, Marija; Brnić, Marija (19 May 2010). "U ACI-ju nemaju pojma da ih država nudi strancima" (in Croatian). Poslovni dnevnik. http://www.poslovni.hr/vijesti/u-aciju-nemaju-pojma-da-ih-drzava-nudi-strancima---148018.aspx. Retrieved 7 November 2010. 
  6. ^ Šuljić, Branko (7 January 2010). "NoviList.hr - Tisuće vezova za tisuću užitaka" (in Croatian). Novi list. http://www.novilist.hr/2010/01/25/tisuce-vezova-za-tisucu-uzitaka.aspx. Retrieved 8 November 2010. 
  7. ^ a b "About Croatia - ACI Marinas". About-Croatia.com. http://www.about-croatia.com/croatia-aci-marina.php. Retrieved 7 November 2010. 
  8. ^ a b "ACI Cup History". ACI Match Race. http://www.aci-matchrace.com/ACICupHistory.aspx. Retrieved 7 November 2010. 

External links