Racing Rivas on Lake Tahoe
January 1, 2004
Lake Tahoe succumbed to the charm of Italy last summer, when more than four dozen classic Riva speedboats cut their stylish swath across its surface. When hospitality industry exec Carl Arnold acquired a Super Aquarama in the early ’90s, he became the first local Riva owner and the first U.S. member of the Riva Historical Society. Then Arnold’s neighbor, Steve Lapkin, bought a Riva and in 2001 started the Riva Club USA, the U.S. chapter of the Riva Historical Society. That was all it took to start a Riva craze in earnest. “People really fell in love with the intricate, sexy lines of these mahogany masterpieces and had to have them,” says Arnold.
Carlo Riva began developing sleek boats in the mid-1950s, and they quickly
became a status plaything for everyone from Prince Rainier to Brigitte Bardot.
Even James Bond chose a Riva for a cinematic chase across Monte Carlo’s harbor.
Riva speedboats reflected the Italian penchant for luxury, craftsmanship and sex
appeal, particularly the padded sundeck, dubbed the prendisole—Italian for “take
the sun”—which, in the States, has been replaced with the more colorful phrase
“pleasure pit.” The 28-foot Super Aquarama debuted in 1962; 783 were produced
before production ceased in 1995; 600 probably still exist, and a classic Super
Aquarama in pristine condition is valued at over $300,000.
The Tahoe Yacht
Club honored Riva as the official marque during Wooden Boat Week’s Concours
d’Elegance in 2003, where the Italian boats joined an assembly of traditional
American Gar Woods, Chris-Crafts and Hackers. Though Wooden Boat Week is a
low-key event, it is attracting international interest. Last summer, a couple
came from Belgium with their boat to participate, and Carlo Riva’s daughter Lia
showed up with a large Riva contingent. A week of regattas and luncheons beneath
the tall pines included an Italian Riviera meal at a West Shore estate.
I was
invited to run with this stylish pack on “Riva Zoom” day, an event where the
Rivas gather en masse to speed around the lake’s periphery. The group swung by
to pick me up at the dock in front of my beachfront cottage at the newly
renovated Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort & Casino in Incline Village, which
has been transformed into a chic 1920s-style alpine lodge. The hotel offered us
Bloody Marys, and then off we zoomed, delighting in the unfurling ribbons of
wakes made by the flying wedge of Rivas, the spectrum of blues of the deep lake,
the snow-capped mountains and the rocky shoreline so similar to the Sardinian
coast. Midday, we were feted with a lavish buffet at the Riva Grill, a
restaurant with extensive photos and memorabilia of the Riva presence in
Tahoe—and excellent Italian food. After lunch we completed the circuit back to
the Sierra Boat Company to cap the day with champagne and the awarding of
trophies.
The Tahoe Yacht Club Foundation’s 32nd annual celebration of
classic wooden boats will run this summer between August 5 and 12, and the
Concours d’Elegance will be held August 6 and 7 on the waterfront at Sierra Boat
Company in Carnelian Bay, North Lake Tahoe.
Riva Club USA
530.448.9570
www.rivaclubusa.com
Tahoe Yacht Club
& Tahoe Yacht Club Foundation Wooden Boat Week
530.581.4700
www.tahoeyc.com
Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe
Resort & Casino
775.832.1234
www.laketahoe.hyatt.com
Riva Grill
888.REGATTA
www.rivagrill.com
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