Riviera kicks off summer season with Melbourne raft-up
What better way to launch into summer than with a social raft-up for Riviera and Belize boat ownersRiviera has kicked off the summer boating season with its third annual raft-up on Melbourne’s Port Phillip Bay, with 22 Riviera and Belize boats forming an arc under the sunny skies off Mornington.
The highly social event, held each year over the third weekend of November, was organised by Sandringham-based R Marine Jacksons and featured motor yachts ranging from a 3600 Sport Yacht to a 575 SUV.
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The event was also the first of a series of raft-ups arranged for Riviera owners that will run from the Gold Coast to Perth.
Riviera 445 SUV owner Kevin Harris said the annual Melbourne raft-up had become a permanent fixture on his calendar.
“It’s a tradition now, I put it in my calendar and look forward to it every year – it’s the only event I’ll miss church for on a Sunday,” Harris said.
“It’s great to see different people all enjoying the same wonderful boating life we love so much with their family and at the same time, realising what we have here in Australia.
“This year it was a bit lumpy getting there but once we were in the harbour it was flat calm, and it turned out to be a lovely sunny day. The band was fantastic, and everyone loved the music, it was lively, and it really hit the spot.”
The four-piece band performed from a Riviera 50 Enclosed Flybridge holding centre stage in the arc of the raft-up.
R Marine Jackson helped set up the raft-up using a tender to help position the boats side-by-side, with owners holding off and then using their Volvo Penta joystick controls to manouvre the big yachts into place.
Anchors were set by every third vessel to hold the raft in position.
Sergio Cinerari, who now owns his third Riviera – a 4800 Sport Yacht – and who was also attending his third raft-up, said the event was “really social”.
“You’re jumping around from boat to boat and talking to different people who you have this fantastic shared interest with,” Cinerari said.
“It’s a like-mindedness about a way of life and the brand of motor yachts that we all so enjoy, it’s just easy to strike up a conversation and then you just drift along with it,” he said.
“My wife likes Riviera motor yachts so I like them. They’re well built, comfortable, well optioned and the level of service and back-up is really important to us, as are events like this.”
Other activities planned for Riviera owners over the next six months include the annual RMarine Crawley Christmas celebration, held this year at Couran Cove, South Stradbroke Island, on December 14; the RMarine Crawley Sydney Harbour Experience from February 21 to March 1; the Riviera Port Lincoln Tuna Classic from March 13-15; the RMarine Crawley Sydney Weekend Getaways from March 13-16 and March 27-30; the RMarine Crawley Hawkesbury River Experience from April 10-19; the RMarine Crawley Champagne and Oyster Night on April 30; the RMarine Crawley Gold Coast Weekend on the Water from May 1-4; and the Riviera and Belize Festival of Boating, which coincides with the May 21-24 running of the 2020 Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show.
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