Riva, ready to launch three new luxury powerboats

It is not only one of the seven luxury boat brands produced by the Ferretti group, a giant of the Italian nautical industry, but it is one of the most famous icons of Made in Italy and, not by chance, its motorboats and yachts are often referred to as the Ferraris of the sea. We are talking, of course, about Riva, the shipyard that was founded on the Bergamo shore of Lake Iseo 183 years ago and has grown, generation after generation, to the present day. With an obvious leap in quality when, in the early 1950s, Carlo Riva arrived at the helm of the company, founded by his great-grandfather Pietro in 1842, the engineer who went down in history for having conceived, designed and built the motorboats that symbolised the dolce vita seaside resort lifestyle, between the 1950s and the early 1970s.

These were elegant mahogany boats with great attention to detail, such as the Tritone, the Ariston, the Corsaro (all three from 1950), the Sebino, the Florida (both 1952) and the Aquarama (1962) which was the most famous product. And then, in the years that followed, many other models, including the first fibreglass boat (created in 1969) and steel yachts. Boats on which aristocrats, famous entrepreneurs and businessmen, sports champions and film stars have sailed. Among them Sophia Loren, Brigitte Bardot, Liz Taylor, Sean Connery, Jean Paul Belmondo and Richard Burton.

In 1954, Riva inaugurated a futuristic, design-oriented shipyard in Sarnico, with a cutting-edge production set-up that allowed him to start mass production, albeit on an artisan basis, with 200 workers. The engineer, known for his strong character (he died at the age of 95, in 2017, without ever having abandoned his passion for boating), decided to sell the shipyard in 1968, after a trade union clash with some of the workers.

The company changed hands several times, until it was taken over by the Ferretti group, which, under the leadership of Alberto Galassi, relaunched it, resuming its focus on the mix that had made the brand famous in its golden years: a craftsman's imprint, albeit in industrial production, and innovation married to tradition. A recent symbol of this approach was the launch ceremony, in recent days, of the 100th Rivamare, one of the most popular models of the company's new course.

A kermesse that Ferretti group celebrated, of course, in Sarnico. The launch was attended not only by CEO Galassi, but also by the Chairman of the company's Board of Directors, Jiang Kui, and representatives of the majority shareholder, the Chinese Weichai group. "What distinguishes Ferretti," Galassi emphasises, "is the ability to build boats that are beautiful forever, as demonstrated by the one hundredth Rivamare unit. Owners know this and are rewarding us: our order book has reached a record 1.7 billion euro, at the beginning of 2025. Another ingredient of our growth over the last few years is the creation of many new models: at the end of the month we will present three new Riva vessels".