New 2008 Riva Boats

Building on a legend

In 1842, Pietro Riva traveled from Laglio, on the banks of Lake Como, Italy to Sarnico, on Lake Iseo, to fix a series of storm damaged boats that everybody else had given up on. A daunting feat, but Pietro was up to the task. Soon, he was attracting attention as a miracle worker. But with his talents, he didn't want to just put boats back together - he wanted to build boats that nobody had ever seen before. Build them he did and Riva's rich heritage was officially launched. In the 1880's Ernesto Riva, one of Pietro's sons, took over the Riva yard. While maintaining the tradition of impeccable quality and craftsmanship, he added another dimension to the Riva product: innovation. He began by fitting piston engines to his boats for the first time and built boats to carry passengers and cargo. It was Serafino Riva's turn at the helm next. Under his direction, he stopped producing passengers and cargo boats, launching Riva into the embryonic power racing boating scene.


Serafino's competitive ambitions drove Riva to a series of successes in national and international motor boating competitions between the first and second world wars. Not content to remain solely in this role, Riva increased its line to include boats built for pleasure as well. It was to be still, another turning point. By the 1950s, the Riva name, under the leadership of Carlo Riva, became a worldwide symbol of quality, elegance, speed and status.


With Riva's uncompromising quality and superior materials, this renowned name became the only choice of kings and queens, emperors, princess and sultans, actors and sportsmen, matinee idols, the international jet set and business tycoons worldwide. Famous names included Brigitte Bardot, Richard Burton, Sophia Loren, Prince Ranier, Aristotle Onassis, Peter Sellers and many others of equal stature. Today, celebrities, well-known businessmen, entrepreneurs, fashion stylists and the jet set are still unable to resist the magnetism of a Riva. If you can afford the best, why not experience the best.


Masterpieces in design, materials and total quality.

Craftsmanship, unmatchable quality, innovative but always functional design, has always been Riva's hallmark. Those same principles remain firmly in place. With meticulous attention to structural detail, every boat in the Riva Line, from 33ft. to 115 ft. is given a precise personality linked to its name. Riva is, more than ever, a refined, elegant and timeless beauty on water with state of the art design and performance capabilities. Today, clean and essential lines, sophistication and originality, exclusive design and unique style and matchless character define Riva.


A unique style, Riva style has born from the fusion between boating and design

It is called Officina Italiana Design, the laboratory-studio where, for many years now, Riva yachts take shape and are improved in each detail, marking new steps in the history of the international boating design. Officina Italiana was founded in 1994 by Mauro Micheli, from Adrara San Martino, a village in the Bergamo area, with studies first at the artistic college in Bergamo and after at the Accademia di Belle Arti (Academy of fine arts) in Milan, and by Sergio Beretta, from Brescia, with a degree in economics and a declared passion for contemporary art and design.