Beauty and Purpose
THE RIVIERA 72 SPORTS MOTOR YACHT EXPANDS ON THE GOOD LOOKS AND NOTABLE PERFORMANCE OF ITS SMALLER SIBLING. BY BARRY THOMPSON
The Riviera 72 Sports Motor Yacht expands on the styling and notable performance of its smaller sibling.
WWhen conceptualizing the 72 Sports Motor Yacht, the criteria was for a vessel that offered the exhilaration of sports performance with the luxuries of a motoryacht. “During more than two years of development, our in-house design team conducted extensive consultations with highly experienced Riviera owners from around the world to create a motoryacht of great beauty and purpose,” says Riviera owner and chairman Rodney Longhurst. “When we spoke to owners seeking a new style of motoryacht, they said their dream was a bluewater yacht that combines speed with capabilities for sportfishing and other water sports, along with high bulwark sidedecks, a foredeck entertainment center, a fully enclosed flybridge with internal stairs, a covered mezzanine dining area and ultra-luxurious interiors.” The new 72 Sports Motor Yacht delivers on that brief.
Given the chance, if you saw both the new 72 and its sister (the 68) on the water, you might have a hard time picking out the differences between the two. While virtually the same boat, the 72 has been expanded in almost every way. The extra length is evident in the twinlevel cockpit. Plus, with the extended hull, the fuel tank capacity has been increased from 2,245 gallons to 2,377.
The 72 has all the right attributes to be either a seriously comfortable, practical cruising boat or a dedicated sportfisherman. The cockpit is divided into two areas, each with its own distinct purpose: The aft deck for fishing and the upper deck for entertaining.
Three feet longer than the 68 in both overall and hull length, the 72 shares the same beam as her sibling. After all, both boats are from the same set of molds, but due to the extra length, the 72 is able to carry more fuel and water. It has different propulsion, too: Standard power for the 68 is a pair of 1,550-hp MAN V12 engines; the 72 gets 1,800-hp MAN V12s. However, both boats are available with the MAN V12 1,900-hp engines, a pair of which were in the 72 I tested.
When driving the 72, I was impressed by how intuitive everything was, and the effortless way the boat handled. Running across a slight chop with 10 knots of breeze, the 72 was smooth, vibration free and extremely quiet. The hull ran true and straight, and by presetting the Humphree Interceptors, we maintained an optimum running angle of around 4.3 degrees. At 18 knots (1600 rpm), I