170th Anniversary of the iconic Riva speed boat brand.
Yves de Contades attended Carlo Riva’s 70th Birthday party and the 170th Anniversary of the iconic Riva speed boat brand.
Riva speed boats are legendary and have been coveted and owned by a host of attractive and wealthy celebrities such as Brigitte Bardot, Sean Connery, Peter Sellers, Prince Rainier of Monaco, King Hussein, the Shah of Persia, Carlo Ponti, Sophia Loren, and the King of Sweden. George Clooney was gunning one around Lake Iseo a few weeks ago in a Japanese ad campaign for Mercedes Benz.
The Riva story started in 1842, when Pietro Riva came from Lake Como and began building boats in Sarnico, a little northern Italian town on the shores of Lake Iseo. He was such a skilled carpenter that his boats soon became widely famous and he built a successful business. This was passed to Pietros’s third son Ernesto, also a skilled carpenter and by the 1930s, his son, Serafino, who pushed the company into racing boats which was his passion. In the 1950s Serafino’s son Carlo started creating pleasure boats that attracted worldwide renown for their elegance and beauty.
The anniversary event saw 200 Riva speedboat owners from all over the world perform a special parade on Lake Iseo with the 70 year old Carlo Riva at the head of the procession, with horns blaring and outrageous costumes, the boats toured the lake, criss crossing wakes and leaping the waves. The whole town of Sarnico was out to watch and the media helicopter buzzed over the boats, a mere 4 metres above the choppy waters, filming the event for posterity.
The recession was not easy for the yacht company, so in January 2012, the Ferretti Group which owns Riva and 7 other yacht brands, was sold to the state-owned parent of China’s biggest bulldozer-maker, Shandong Heavy Industry Group-Weichai Group. They are looking to new markets in China and India and investing in new boat models, combining fibre glass hulls with the traditional wood look. The latest boats to come out of the yard in Sarnico in Italy are the Vertus and the Iseo.
Generally regarded as the most beautiful wooden runabout ever made the last Acquarama special was made in 1996 and carried the number 784. The specials are in short supply and go for around $500,000. They are collectors items and many countries have a Riva members club with wealthy members who are all passionate about these lovely tenders. Carlo Riva stopped making them with the wooden hulls when fibre glass took over the speed boat building industry so the Mahogany versions in good nick are appreciating in value. I drove the Acquarama special around the lake as fast as local speed limits would allow and then took out the latest Virtus which, while modern in build, power and handling, retains the same wooden decking and sophisticated look of the legend.
The 63' Virtus, is the largest open yacht produced by the Riva shipyard, and definitely an eye catcher. Known as the Ferrari of the water, I would equate it more with a Bentley with its subtle luxurious style and power. Designed by Mauro Micheli of Officina Italiana Design, who designs all the new boats from Riva, it’s a sporty yacht that would look perfect leaping the waves along the French Riviera.
The new Riva Iseo, a 27 foot runabout, is a lovely little beauty and the ideal water skiing or leisurely fishing boat. Also perfect for anyone wishing to enhance their yacht with an exclusive tender that looks great pulling into port.
Carlo Riva was in fantastic form at his birthday party and told many stories about the 1950’s and 60’s, when the hollywood stars partied the nights away on Riva boats, as the jazz band temporised at the Cocca Hotel opposite the hundreds of iconic and stylish mahogany tenders rolling gently under the night sky in the waters of Lago d’Iseo.
