Canadian Yachting October 2017 - 23

Carlo Riva's iconic "La Plancia" or helm station at Riva's massive factory on Lake Iseo was built in the '50s in the style of a
ship's bridge. Today the busy plant builds in glass, not
mahogany.

boats on nearby Lago d'Iseo, the smallest of northern Italy's picturesque lakes that have attracted visitors from ancient Romans
to European nobility. In time, Pietro began making boats under
his own name and eventually brought his son Ernesto on board.
It was Ernesto who added combustion engines and as the story
goes, began building the brand with larger workboats. Ernesto
met his fate at age 50 when he was crushed to death launching
one of his own boats. Grandson Serafino was steering the firm
when boats began to morph from transportation to, well, boating
for the sake of boating, and it was Serafino who had a passion
for racing. But when Serafino begat Carlo, the golden age of
Riva truly began.

Brigitte Bardot, Sophia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard
Burton, Peter Sellers and Jordan's King Hussein weren't just
photographed in Rivas, they were owners. Sean Connery didn't
use his when he was James Bond, but Pearce Brosnan drove one
in GoldenEye. (It was a loaner.) Today Mr. and Mrs. Clooney
dry-sail a Riva from Villa Oleandra, their 18th-century summer
home on Lake Como.
I joined a Bay Street friend, who requested anonymity in this
article, on a personal buying mission in early May, for a road and
water trip to end all others. Aside from motoring about Lakes
Garda, Iseo and Como on different models of these dreamy
classic boats, days were spent chatting with proud artisans in
restoration workshops and, when the situation was required,
pretending to represent significant family money negotiating at
posh brokerages in Nice and Monaco. The only thing I felt we
really missed out on was meeting Carlo Riva in person, who at
age 95, had died just three weeks before our trip.
Carlo was designing and building boats as a young teenager.
Disagreeing with his father, young Carlo was captivated with
Chris-Crafts and by 19 had built his first twin-engine design, a
huge departure from his father's work. Indeed, before he was 30,
he had designed and built more than 45 different models,
including power, sail and rowboats. By 1950 he was opposing
with his father on many things, from modern designs to new
laminated construction techniques. Carlo managed to find his
own financial backers and set out on his own. A few years later,
with his father's eventual and reluctant blessing, Carlo took over
the Riva name and moved into the space-age-looking ship's
bridge headquarters on Lake Iseo that still operates today.
It was at this early stage that great-grandson Carlo began a
relationship with reliable Chris-Craft engines and before long,
a string of these mahogany masterpieces became famous.
Models like the Scoiattolo (Squirrel), Ariston (Aristocrat),

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Canadian Yachting October 2017