Riva Aquariva Special For Sale

The Aquariva Special is the first Riva to carry the Special name since the Aquarama, which tells you how carefully the yard has treated it. This is a restyling rather than a replacement. The Aquariva silhouette is intact, the mahogany is still hand-laid, and the changes sit in details a buyer notices from the helm rather than from the dock.

Ten metres, eight people, one small cabin forward. The Aquariva has never pretended to be a cruiser, and its appeal has always been the opposite of practicality. What it offers is the cleanest open cockpit Riva builds, wrapped in varnished mahogany and polished stainless, with a sun pad aft and a helm position that puts the driver in the middle of the boat rather than behind a console.

Twin Yanmar 8LV diesels of 370 horsepower each drive it to 40.5 knots, with a 36-knot cruise and 155 nautical miles from a 480 litre tank. At 5.2 tonnes light it planes quickly and settles hard in a chop.

Buyers rarely reach the Aquariva Special by comparison shopping. It is bought as an object, kept alongside a larger yacht or on a lake, and it holds its value for that reason. European dealer pricing opens at about 799,000 euros, and nothing else in the market does the same job.