SPACE COWBOY is the latest of Riva’s sportfly models, a 2024 Riva 88′ Folgore that carries the yard’s century of style into thoroughly modern territory. Her appeal is in the tension between tradition and speed: a hand-built Italian yacht with mahogany, stainless steel and carbon fibre worked into the same profile, wrapped in a London Grey hull and a Regal Silver deck that belong to Riva alone. She looks fast standing still, and she is.
The name Folgore means lightning, and the performance backs it up. Twin MTU engines push her to a cruise around 32 knots and a top end near 39, so distance collapses. A chain of anchorages that a slower yacht would ration across a week is hers in an afternoon, which changes the shape of a charter: more coastline, more variety, less time spent simply getting there.
Aboard, the sportfly layout gives eight guests a surprising amount of room. The main salon opens through vast windows on three sides, an L-shaped sofa facing the sea and the cockpit beyond, finished in satin oak, black marble and leather that keep the mood warm rather than clinical. Forward, a lower helm sits within the same space, and the whole main deck flows out to a shaded cockpit that is really an extension of the saloon.
Below, four cabins sleep eight. The full-beam owner’s suite sits amidships, the quietest part of the hull, with a king bed, hull windows at eye level and an ensuite in black marble that spans the yacht’s full width, a genuinely private retreat. Three further cabins, each individually finished and each with its own bathroom, take care of family or friends. A crew of four keeps service attentive without ever crowding a yacht of this size.
Outside, she is built for the sun. The foredeck carries a large sunpad for the morning. The aft cockpit sets for lunch in the shade and lounges through the afternoon. A swim platform and beach club open the sea at anchor, and the flybridge above gives an open-air helm and lounge for the run between bays. Water toys are close to hand for guests who want to be in the water rather than beside it.
What sets SPACE COWBOY apart is not any single feature but the way the whole yacht is resolved. Riva has spent decades making boats that are as satisfying to look at as to drive, and the Folgore is that idea at 27 metres: quick, beautifully made and easy to live with. For a charter party of eight who want pace, Italian craftsmanship and a design with genuine presence, she is a sharp and current choice for a Riviera or Balearic itinerary.
She reads as a Riva from a hundred metres and rewards a closer look at every turn, from the carbon detailing to the marble of the owner’s bath.
That blend of pace and craftsmanship suits the western Mediterranean well. She can run from the French Riviera to the Italian islands or across to the Balearics between lunch and dinner, then sit quietly at anchor while the beach club and toys come out, a fast yacht that still knows how to slow down.
Available for charter in the West Mediterranean from 75,000 EUR per week.
