About a year ago, we brought you news of Riva’s plans for an 88-foot open top powerboat called the Miami. The intention was to generate not just one of the largest open top powerboats in the world but also the first of its size to be fully convertible by means of a powered roof. Well now, a little later than scheduled, that boat has been introduced under a new name. What was the Riva 88 Miami is now the 88 Florida.

Riva 88 Florida

The Riva 88 Miami has become the 88 Florida – one of the largest open top boats in the world.



 

So what makes this thing so special? Well apart from the fact that it’s a Riva (which is still the premier name in Italian powerboats), its Besenzoni-designed roof system uses a pair of hydraulic arms to swing the entire hardtop forwards and lower it into position on the foredeck seating. As Riva’s third largest craft this means that, once the arms have retracted into their pods on the sides of the coachroof, you are left basking in around 40 feet of open cockpit space – and if you want to retain that bow seating, you can even leave the roof section partially elevated, as a sunshade for the foredeck passengers.

Riva 88 Florida layout

Riva 88 Florida layout



Down below, the 88 Florida remains a serious motoryacht, with four en suite cabins, a lower deck saloon and the same hull windows as the Riva 86 Domino on which she is based. Of course, Riva’s own comparisons with the Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder look a bit stretched and I don’t really understand why ‘Miami’ was ousted in favour of ‘Florida’ - but as a massive, convertible, open-top, 40-knot Riva, they could have called it the ‘Milton Keynes’ and still had a winner on their hands.

For more on the new boat, visit www.venturaeurope.com and to see that swanky roof in action, click on the video link at the bottom of the page.

 

Specifications

LOA: 26.7m
Beam: 6.2m
Displacement: 60,000kg
Engines (option 1): 2 x MTU 16V 2000 M93
Power (option 1): 2 x 2435hp
Max speed (option 1): 38.5 knots
Engines (option 2): 2 x MTU 16V 2000 M94
Power (option 2): 2 x 2638hp
Max speed (option 2): 40.5 knots
Cabins: 4
Berths: 8
Fuel capacity: 7,500 litres
Water capacity: 900 litres
Max range: 340NM
Price: around £5 million

For more high-performance power cruisers on boats.com, see: Fjord Open 48 video: first look or Hunton Powerboats announces XRS52.


Written by: Alex Smith
Alex Smith is a journalist, copywriter and magazine editor with a long history in boating and a happy addiction to the water. He’s worked on boats, lived on boats, bought boats, sold boats and – when he’s not actually on board a boat – he can generally be found in his Folkestone office, tapping away at the computer and gazing out to sea.