Readers of a certain age will remember the Earls Court shows in London in the Eighties when Lewis Marine on stand C10 always grabbed the accolade for biggest boat at the show by exhibiting a massive Riva.
Sometimes it was a flybridge SuperAmerica, sometimes an open-topped Diable, and if you didn’t have an appointment the chap with the brass buttons and peaked cap wouldn’t let you past the red rope. The Rivas were gigantic – all of 50ft long.
An original Diable would struggle to stand out in many marinas today, but Riva thinks highly of its heritage and has dusted off the illustrious name for its latest Riva 68 Diable.
The new Diable won’t be anything like the biggest boat at the 2021 Cannes Yachting Festival – it won’t even be the biggest Riva – but it promises to have enough pontoon presence to grab the attention.
Article continues below…
Azimut 62S review: S is more – from the archive
Pershing 7X yacht tour: This $3.2m sportscruiser can do 50 knots flat-out
It’s a three-cabin boat, with a full-beam owner’s suite amidships, a VIP in the bows and a third twin-berth guest cabin. The dinette in the lower saloon, opposite the galley, can seat six.
Up on deck there are fore and aft sunbathing areas, including an unfolding chaise longue down by the water and another sunpad in the cockpit which can be shaded by a powered bimini that slides out from the hardtop, which also has a dual-action sunroof that opens forward and aft. There is a small single-berth crew cabin.
Pre-show info was sketchy even by Riva’s standards, but the shipyard seems confident that with the standard twin 1,550hp MANs the Diable will be capable of a devilishly quick 37 knots, or 40 knots with the more powerful motors, both options spinning traditional straight shafts. Range is estimated to be a useful 260 nautical miles at 33 knots.
Riva 68 Diable specifications
LOA: 67ft 10in (20.7m)
Beam: 17ft 4in (5.3m)
Engines: Twin 1,550hp-1,650hp MAN V12
Top speed: 40 knots
Starting price: €2,945,000 (ex. VAT)
