Text by: Damiano Iovino
Translation by: Steve Piccolo

Lia Riva, daughter of the unforgettable creator of legendary wooden motor yachts in the Dolce Vita years, Carlo Riva,  is now the CEO of Monaco Boat Service, the base on the French Riviera of the famous Sarnico shipyard. She tells Collectible DRY how to combine tradition and innovation, passing from the Aquarama of the 1960s to the modern Aquariva of the 2000s.

«Sun, Sea and Joie de Vivre» is the slogan with which Carlo Riva launched the Aquarama in 1962, maybe the world’s most beautiful motor yacht, and a true icon of nautical elegance. This boat prompted Alberto Galassi, CEO of Gruppo Ferretti, to say that the world of yachting can be divided into two eras: before and after Carlo Riva. The Riva style, the Riva touch still exists, and in Monaco you can get a deep breath of it: by the pier the Aquarama of Brigitte Bardot is on view, with the letters BB St. Tropez imprinted on the mahogany stern, inevitably triggering thoughts of the Dolce Vita. In the water a few meters away, several Aquaramas from the 1960s, and some very recent Aquariva models: the daughter of Carlo Riva, who directs the Monaco Boat Service, watched her father’s dreams come true and lavishes care and attention on the motor yachts with which she grew up. «The new ones are very technological, in fiberglass, but the quality of the wood, the leather, the lines, makes them immediately recognizable as Rivas.»