Riva has pulled off a trick by reinventing a classic with a flash of brilliance. Step on board with Risa Merl as she discovers the new Riva 88’ Folgore.
Improving upon a classic is a challenge that many a yacht builder must face when the time comes to update an already popular model. The new 26.92-metre Riva 88’ Folgore is a case in point, aiming to outdo the Riva 88’ Domino, of which nearly 40 hulls were sold in the 12 years following launch. Folgore means thunderbolt in Italian, and as her name suggests, the new Riva flashes across the water, reaching speeds of nearly 40 knots at half load. She boasts sleeker lines, enhanced performance, plus more layout options and innovative solutions than her predecessor.
Riva, part of the Ferretti Group, briefed collaborators Officina Italiana Design, the studio founded by Mauro Micheli and Sergio Beretta, which has designed the entire Riva range since 1994. They wanted an elegant yacht for their “Sport-fly” range, with the same dimensions as the 88’ Domino.
It should also strike a perfect balance between the past and the present. This part of the brief is a theme in all Rivas, with the yard striving to create modern boats while invoking the historical charm, trademarked colour palette and evocative detailing of classic Riva runabouts. This goal was pulled off with aplomb in the builder’s largest
yacht to date, the Riva 50 Metri Race, and the brand hopes to continue the trend in its newer, smaller models, such as the Folgore.
Influenced by another new model, the 14.92-metre Dolceriva, the Folgore has sleek lines and an exterior profile that is cleaner and simpler than those of the Domino. “The boat is characterised by two simple lines running along its profile and the slight reverse-angle of the windshield,” says designer Mauro Micheli, “and the hull windows, which run like a deft upward black pencil stroke along its silvery flank.”
“We gave Mauro and his team a brief that was mostly technical – the size, the number of cabins – then we let them draw,” says Ferretti Group’s CCO Stefano de Vivo. “Mauro has designed about 40 Rivas; he has proven he has Riva DNA within him.” A wraparound windshield that extends glazing all the way to the aft deck at full height was one of the most challenging parts of the project, says de Vivo. “It is the most inclined and most complicated windshield that you’ll find on a Riva. We went to great expense to research how to create the perfect glass curve with minimal distortions.”
Micheli notes the importance of carrying three of Riva’s signature materials – mahogany, stainless steel and leather – throughout the yacht. “Innovation is something that we always introduce little by little, step by step, without shaking up the design,” he says.
The Folgore’s exterior has a quintessentially Riva colour story, with a shark-grey hull and Riva-blue boot-stripe on the waterline. On the transom alone, you can see stainless steel and mahogany complemented by a carbon-fibre air intake. The exterior upholstery is clean white, and tables are topped in mahogany with a stainless-steel base.
This distinctive Riva colour palette is carried into the interior, which has a mix of rosewood, white parquet floors, black fabric on the ceiling and plentiful details in stainless steel, leather and glass. The light and bright main saloon benefits from that enormous windshield and glazing, and the Folgore also introduces a skylight over the main saloon from the sizable flybridge above, which floods natural light into the dining area.
Continuity flows in the four lower deck cabins, which are adorned in gloss rosewood, with white carpeted floors, white leather headboards and black leather upholstery. Showers, countertops and backsplashes are in a white and gold Calacatta marble.
One of Micheli’s favourite spaces on board the Folgore is the completely reimagined stern and swim platform, a new element not seen on the Domino. Here, a garage door that swings open can be positioned in two ways: above the waterline, to take advantage of a six-square-metre beach club, or lowered and immersed in the water, to allow the launch and landing of a tender. The garage can accommodate a 3.9-metre tender and a jet ski. “I also like the cosy area at the bow where you can relax in privacy,” says Micheli.
Built in composites with carbon-fibre reinforcements on the superstructure, main deck and centre of the hull, the Folgore puts a focus on performance. The hull shape was redesigned and optimised through extensive CFD (computational fluid dynamics) testing.
The new hull design is a “warped” or modified V- shape, with a flatter section to the stern that helps increase speed. This design also improves efficiency, which allowed the builder to use more marble, glass and stainless steel on board. “These are heavy materials, which are an enemy to efficiency, but we were able to create a lighter yacht,” says de Vivo.
While the Folgore seeks to differentiate itself from the Domino, the two yachts have something interesting in common. “Both went out in particular periods of time – the Domino was launched in 2009, in the middle of [the Global Financial Crisis]; the Folgore comes during the Covid-19 crisis,” says Micheli. “Domino has helped the Ferretti Group in a tough moment, and we hope Folgore can have the same positive destiny.”
Hull No 1 was delivered this summer, and hull No 4 will be with her owner by March 2021. More hulls are already in production, with Riva planning to build three to four annually. “We could produce up to eight, but we want to keep it exclusive,” says de Vivo. The allure of exclusivity – is there anything more Riva than that?
This feature is taken from the October 2020 issue of BOAT International. Get this magazine sent straight to your door, or subscribe and never miss an issue.
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