When you say Ferrari, both a 10-year-old boy and an elderly lady pay attention. They both know what is hidden under that name. A car, history, legend, aesthetics and for many a lifelong dream. However, this article is not about Ferrari. It is about “Ferrari at sea”. It is about Riva boats.
The name Riva has evoked emotions in me since I was a child, when I admired the beautiful shapes of mahogany wood lined with chrome of perhaps the most famous boat of this brand - the immortal Aquarama. I imagined myself, after parking the Aston Martin, starting two Lamborghini V12s and crossing Lake Como with the Aquarama. Then I would sail to the private docks of a Renaissance villa and open a bottle of Bollinger champagne. In short and simple - a lifestyle à la James Bond.
It wasn't long before Pietro earned the nickname "master builder" and not only repaired ships, but decided to build them as well.Admiration, desire, respect and passion for quality and honest work gradually lost the form of just a childhood dream and with increasing age, the irresistible desire to be interested in these artistic objects grew more and more. Finally, the time (and opportunity) came to meet the representatives of this brand in person. However, let's not get ahead of ourselves and first get to know the story of this extraordinary manufacturer of ships of the seas.
The story of the legendary Riva company began in 1842 and began with a storm. On one of the famous Italian lakes – Iseo – a strong storm claimed several boats as victims, which a certain Pietro Riva decided to repair. This gentleman traveled to Lake Iseo in the town of Sarnico from another famous lake – Como. It didn’t take long for Pietro to earn the nickname “master builder” and not only repaired boats, but also decided to build them. Pietro Riva’s legacy can still be seen in the Monaco Boat Service tunnel in the heart of the Principality of Monaco today. It is a love of water, the sea, working with wood and, above all, a deep feeling for honest work. There is nothing in the world like Riva boats.
I sought the answer to the question of why this is so, and other answers, in the place mentioned. In a place where these boats make even more sense than anywhere else. I doubt that there is a more ideal place in the world to enjoy the aesthetics of Riva products than the pearl of the French Riviera - Monaco. And this is where Monaco Boat Service (MBS), an authorized dealer and service center for Riva, is located, which I was invited to visit. The president of MBS is none other than Lia Riva - the daughter of Carlo Riva, whose story I will tell in a moment. The unique atmosphere in the tunnel in Port Hercules was completed by the mechanic who took me through it.
The famous tunnel lies beneath the palace of the Grimaldi family of Monaco and was excavated into the rock by the Riva service network over two long years, completed and inaugurated in 1959. Today, this tunnel is the headquarters of MBS. Immediately upon entering, I felt like an art lover who had just opened the doors of the Louvre museum and had it all to himself. In addition to viewing several classic models such as the Aquarama, Tritone or Ariston in contrast to the modern Aquariva Super, I was given a first-hand lesson in the uniqueness of Riva boats from a man who can claim to know these boats better than anyone else. He has been working for the same company for 25 years.
Together we reminisced about the "old days" (a cliché that, however, took on a whole new dimension in the depths of the MBS tunnel) and with passion and love he explained to me how classic Riva's were made, how he loves the smell of wood and how it is possible that despite the hurried and over-technified world, modern Riva's are still mostly made by hand. Although we are both lovers of classic boats and cars, he assured me, despite my skepticism, that modern Riva products are true carriers of the heritage, from the smallest Iseo model (8.2m) to the largest Mythos (37.5m). I let myself be carried away by the atmosphere of the tunnel and the mechanic's stories, which range from incidents about famous people who garage their Riva in the tunnel to his personal stories connected with this company. He can't imagine a better job than taking care of the so-called "vintage Rivas" (classic Riva models).
“Let me tell you something straight. These boats are not like the cars that robots build on conveyor belts these days. These boats are still hand-built, piece by piece. The person who builds them will forever be a part of them. It’s honest work,” he says, revealing that he gets up every morning to travel to Monaco from the Italian town of Ventimiglia to work on one of the several boats that are stored in the tunnel for the owners. “In the summer, most of the new boats can be outside, but in the winter we put them all inside. The owner always calls and we get the boat ready for him,” he explains as we look around a dismantled Riva Ariston with a single eight-cylinder engine and almost perfect condition. When asked how it is possible that a 50-year-old boat can be in such condition, he answers clearly: “The quality of the production.” When we try to elaborate, I learn, in addition to the mahogany wood processing process, about a special nickel thickness measurement that Carlo Riva introduced and considered extremely important in maintaining top-notch quality. And who was Carlo Riva, anyway?
He made the boat manufacturer Riva a symbol and a dream. A symbol of style, tasteful extravagance, elegance, quality, but also popularity and social status.
Once again, I will help myself by comparing myself with the most famous car company in the world, or rather with its founder. Because what Enzo Ferrari did for the world of cars, Carlo Riva did for the world of stylish sports boats (so-called "runabouts"). Simply put, he made the boat manufacturer named Riva a symbol and a dream. A symbol of style, tasteful extravagance, elegance, quality, but also popularity and social status. And it became a dream for many, including me. Carlo Riva, a man who literally grew up at sea, was known for his unwavering enthusiasm and absolute passion for what he did. And what he did best could be called the search for perfection in detail.
When he traveled to the USA in the 1950s, he discovered a device that measured the thickness of nickel. Inspired by American-made boats (in the 1950s, America was known as the “chrome era”), which were 7 to 8 microns thick, he took the device home and measured the thickness of the nickel parts on his FIAT. The thickness was 2 microns. Carlo knew that perfection – as is the case in everything – lies in the details, so he focused on the thickness of the nickel parts on Riva boats. He insisted that they had to be even thicker than on their American competitors, and so gradually a new system for producing chrome parts was developed in the workshops in Sarnico, using the most modern technology. Carlo put everything into it, and it was just a small detail.
Although Alain Delon did not like boats, this lover of taste and aesthetics fell fatally in love with the Riva.But when there are more of these, together they create a whole. And the whole, created in Sarnico by honest manual work with every detail, entered history under the name Aquarama. Just for fun, the resulting thickness of the nickel parts on Riva boats was three times that of its rivals from the other side of the Atlantic. So when you are looking for the answer to the question of how it is possible that 40-, 50-year-old Riva vessels often look like new, you will find it in details, such as the thickness of the nickel used or the special processing of mahogany wood. Of course, it is necessary to add that it was not only the almost perfect processing of the Aquarama, all models bearing the Riva name, whether it was the Tritone, Ariston or the smallest Junior, were produced with the same precision and attention to detail.
Kings and queens, princes and princesses, sultans, actors, writers, athletes and top world businessmen appreciated Carlo Riva's honest work and perfectionism. In addition to Brigitte Bardot, Sophia Loren, Prince Rainier or Aristotle Onassis and many others, Alain Delon also owned an Aquarama. The fact that this lover of taste and aesthetics must have fallen fatally in love with the ship is best illustrated by the fact that Delon's general dislike of spending time on ships - when he was young, he asked to be transferred from the French navy to the infantry because he felt sick on board. Despite seasickness, Aquarama was simply irresistible, and to understand why, you have to see it live. Before I left the tunnel, I took a photo with a poster of Alain with Claudia Cardinale on board the Aquarama.
A pleasant end to an even more pleasant visit – or so I thought. At that moment, I had no idea that in two weeks I would be in Monaco again – before I left, Lia Riva personally invited me to a private party for Riva clients and friends during the world-famous Monaco Yacht Show. An experience that would undoubtedly remain in each of us’s minds for the rest of our lives. Enjoying the introduction of the new 76´ Bahamas model or the presentation of dozens of classic or modern boats of this brand with a glass of champagne and then exchanging at least a few words with Madame Riva in person not only left me with deep emotions, but also gave solid, concrete foundations to my long-standing belief that when a person has a true passion for a certain thing, it is worth dedicating yourself to it and pursuing your own interests – people will notice your knowledge, and the right people will appreciate it sufficiently.
Although the most attention was drawn to the majestic Aquarama displayed right at the entrance to the party premises during the Monaco Yacht Show, Riva does not live only from the past and Monte Carlo once again offers itself as the best witness that what Riva once was – a symbol of luxury, wealth, and especially taste and social status, it remains so today. The circle of owners of the new models still consists of movie stars, captains of industry and designers. It is really extremely difficult to impress with something in Port Hercules. The paradox is that Monaco is really a place where even a lover of cars or boats gradually dulls their senses and stops enjoying the uniqueness of, for example, a Bugatti Veyron – after all, there is another one just around the corner.
Monaco uses a different vocabulary, and the often-torn phrase "standing out" has a completely different definition here, amidst the gigantic yachts and million-dollar supercars. So, getting noticed and getting noticed in this small piece of land is more challenging than mixing the right, original "Vesper" Martini.
