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SternLines
By DuDLey
DawsonThe legacy of Carlo Riva lives on.
Speedboat Dreams
S
peedboat is a term you don’t hear much any-
more, but when I was a kid, everyone knew
exactly what it was: a gleaming streak of var-
nished mahogany and polished stainless steel. If you
had any sense at all, you wanted one with every ounce
of your being. A few old guys still had vintage Gar
Woods and Hackers, but for the younger crowd, the
dream was a new Chris-Craft. It would have a big-
block V-8 issuing a throaty rumble through dual tran-
som exhausts, and would be outfitted with white tuck-
and-roll upholstery, similar to that in a ’57 Chevrolet
Bel Air convertible, the other icon of the era.
Still shy of my high school years but already
knowledgeable in the ways of boats, I lived the speed-
boat dream one summer. My dad’s friend owned a
Century Coronado, a 21-foot floating jewel with a
400-plus-horsepower Lincoln engine and a sliding
white hardtop. The dad was leaving town for the sum-
mer and asked if my brother and I would take care of
her in his absence. Well, duh, yeah! The assignment
didn’t pay anything, but he said we could take her out
for a spin “once in a while,” an imprecise expression
that allowed us more latitude than Jimmy Buffett ever
dreamed of. Anchored just off our dock, she was a
beckoning temptress that you could not expect any
teenage boy to resist, and we didn’t.
Those speedboats from Chris-Craft, Century
and a few other U.S. builders ruled my dreams until
the day in the 1960s when I saw a picture of a Riva.
Brigitte Bardot sat at the helm, but it was the Italian
beauty rather than the French one that caught my eye,
and I was smitten for life.
Even now, when visiting Monaco for the
September superyacht show, I always make time to
stop by Monaco Boat Service to gander at the remark-
able fleet of Riva Aristons, Tritones, Floridas and
especially the magnificent Aquaramas that, so help
me, they use as taxi boats during the show. MonacoBoat Service and these meticulously maintained boats
lie, appropriately enough, in the shadow of the palace,
across the harbor from the famed casino. To me, it is
a magical mecca of mahogany.
This all came to mind recently when I learned of
the passing of Carlo Riva at age 95. He was the fourth
generation of the Riva family to build boats in Sarnico,
Italy, and when he took over the already successful
family business at the ripe old age of 27, it was the
production of sleek speedboats of his own design that
made the brand known around the world.
As I moved through school toward a career in
naval architecture, Carlo Riva continued to design
boats, each one seemingly more beautiful than the
last. If there are rock stars in the boat design world,
Carlo was Elvis, Sting and Seal all rolled into one,
with a touch of Michelangelo’s art and da Vinci’s tech-
nical genius thrown in for good measure. As I sat at
my drawing board, I wanted to be him, but it was not
to be—not for me or anyone else. Carlo Riva was one
of a kind.
A decade or more ago, I was in Santa Margherita
Ligure, a lovely little town on the Gulf of Tigullio,
down a coastal road a few kilometers from Portofino.
The stars aligned that day. Not only was the weather
perfect for sea trials, but I learned that Carlo Riva was
in town and managed to arrange an introduction. We
chatted about boats and design, and I am happy to say
that I was not disappointed with our moment, though
it was all too brief.
Not only was Carlo Riva the design hero I knew
him to be, but he also was an interesting and gracious
gentleman as well. Godspeed, Carlo, and thank you
for the legacy you left for me and the world.Share your thoughtS on thiS or any topic
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