Riva Yacht: the latest jewel of the Bergamo-based shipyard is about to be launched. We will most likely see it in late spring. And it promises to be a new point of reference for style and design, as are all other luxury yachts that the shipyard launches on the international market. After all, over the past 175 years, the brand has been an outstanding symbol of the Made in Italy.
Its name is Riva 56’, and it is an elegant, 18-metres-long open boat with a timeless design. The fruit of the collaboration between Officina Italiana Design, the firm that for over 20 years has been the sole designer of Riva’s entire luxury yacht line, and the Product Strategy Committee and Engineering Department of the Ferretti Group (of which the Bergamo-based company is part).
This Riva motorboat clearly draws on some of the features of one of the hits the shipyard launched last year: the Rivamare (read also → Riva presenta lo yacht di lusso Rivamare).
The use of space changes completely, however. “The Riva 56’ yacht is not a boat to be enjoyed only during the day, even though it is a very Mediterranean boat”, says the yacht designer Mauro Micheli, who founded Officina Italiana Design with Sergio Beretta.
“We thought about expanding the external space and create a larger cockpit: we achieved these goals by reducing the size of the bow and pushing forward the windshield (contrary to open boats of the past) — in practice the entire life of the boat, navigation, conviviality, and relaxation, takes place outside, in the large stern space. This is a boat to be used as a yacht as well as a day cruiser, that’s why we slightly reduced the size of the indoor living area, the least utilised section in these boats, and gave more space to the master cabin and its bathroom”.
The Riva yacht’s exterior is characterised by a sleek profile, continuous windows along the hull and flush portholes. Its sporty character, together with its metallic Shark Grey colour and the seamless windshield made of a single double-curvature piece of glass — a true masterpiece of engineering and design — gives it an aggressive and elegant look. The cockpit, ample and comfortable, has a large sundeck almost suspended above the sea, which leads to the lounge of the main deck. Under the roll bar (an element with aesthetic as well as technical value, with all the antennas and electronic instrumentation for navigation), is located a comfortable, forward-facing sofa. This, together with the open dinette and the slightly raised dormeuse next to the bridge (an interesting design item with an intuitive utilisation, just like a smart phone) creates an intimate and convivial area. The cockpit accommodates a fridge, an icemaker, and a grill for outdoor meals. In the bow section is another sundeck.
The interiors are characterised by an elegant understatement, where high-gloss mahogany, profusely used, represents Riva’s DNA and tradition. In the layout, two guest cabins, three bathrooms, a dinette, the galley, and the crew cabin with a separate access. The master cabin, with its en-suite bathroom, is amidships.
“The new open Riva 56’ is a very comfortable boat that maintains a strong bond with the sea”, says Sergio Beretta, CEO of Officina Italiana Design. “It deliberately does not evoke a home — as it often happens with larger luxury yachts — on the contrary, its design is a clear statement that one is on board of a very comfortable luxury boat conceived by a dynamic owner, who wants to pilot it, but also wants to share it with family and friends in style”.
