Riva and Ferrari at the Palm Beach Cavallino Classic

© Patrick Sikes

As you all know, I’m a yacht guy. Big yachts. Small yachts. Hydrofoiling sailing yachts. Rare classic yachts. Full-electric powered yachts. I love them all. In fact, as I’ve gotten older, my appreciation for the wide variety of yachts I’m lucky enough to visit and learn more about has only deepened.

I appreciate the talent and passion it takes for countless teams of skilled artisans, engineers, designers, welders, electricians, and others it takes to build such large and complicated floating works of art. I appreciate how hard the teams of dedicated and highly skilled crews must work to insure the world’s yachts navigate safely—as well as deliver seven-star service! And I continue to be impressed with all of innovative propulsion technology solutions that the largest shipyards are investing heavily in.

But, you know what’s been inspiring me most lately? Beauty. Pure, simple, heartwarming…beauty. Now, I know this sounds a bit sentimental or maybe even a bit superficial. And of course, nothing is more subjective than beauty. But, the truth is, ever since my mom died about a year ago, I look at life—especially what’s important—a bit differently.

I see my time, attention, friends and family are more precious than ever. And call me a hopeless romantic but, I just realized how much all the beautiful boats I’ve seen over the years have enhanced my life…at the Palm Beach Cavallino Classic Ferrari car event that was sponsored by another iconic Italian Brand—Riva Yachts.

Of course, I know all about the storied history of the Riva brand that Carlo Riva built. The first Riva Aquarama that was launched in the early 1960’s came to define the beauty, elegance, and performance of the era almost overnight. And the Riva brand has only grown into a global powerhouse that builds models up to 165-feet-lonhg and counts David Beckham, Elton John and Charles Leclerc among a star-studded list of owners.

And I’m not a car guy, but, I’ve been to enough Formula 1 races and seen enough Assouline books about Ferrari on all the superyachts I’ve toured to know just how powerful the Ferrari mystique is.

So, it makes perfect sense that Riva collaborated with the Palm Beach Cavallino Classic Ferrari event that just so happened to be taking place on the same weekend as the Miami International Boat Show. In fact, since Riva hosted about 80 Ferraris and their owners at a party at the Ferretti Group showroom in Ft Lauderdale during the weekend, I was lucky enough to see pure beauty of a wide variety of extremely rare Ferraris up close and personal.

And this my friends is where I really took a step back to appreciate the unique beauty of each Ferrari that was there. Everything, from the wheel well curve of the race-winning 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO that sold for $70 million at auction in 2018, to the distinctive rear spoiler on a F40, or the distinctive carbon fiber fins on a limited-edition Ferrari Daytona SP3 was simply beautiful.

So, it was no surprise that three Riva models (a Dolceriva, a Riva 88 Folgore and a Riva 76 Perseo Super) participated in the event as the fleet of Ferraris drove from Fort Lauderdale up to Boca Raton. And of course, a Riva Aquariva Super was anchored right next to a row of classic Ferraris in the pond that protects the 18^thgreen at the historic Boca Raton resort where the Concourse d’Elegance was held.

It’s an Italian beauty too.