Riva 54Metri: inside the largest Riva superyacht ever built

Riva's own account of this yacht, published back in 2023, wasn't about speed or size for its own sake. It talked about generous outdoor living, a proper wellness deck, a beach area that put guests close to the water instead of three decks above it.

At the yacht's launch in 2025, Ferretti Group's then chief executive Alberto Galassi tied the boat back to Carlo Riva himself, and to a megayacht project the founder had chased since the 1960s and '70s. Riva had wanted to build something like this for decades. It took the right combination of aluminium construction, engineering and a customer willing to commission it.

That customer came through Sea Pros Yachts, Riva's dealer in Kuwait, with founder Alain Maaraoui brokering the deal and staying involved through to delivery. Riva's published plans placed outdoor living and access to the water at the centre of the design.

Three years later, that original concept has become Sairu, the largest Riva yet built.

The Riva 54Metri concept and sale, 2023

Riva announced the sale in March 2023. This was, Riva said, the largest yacht the yard had ever built. Construction was already underway at the Riva Superyachts Division in Ancona, an 80,000-square-metre facility that also builds Pershing, CRN and Custom Line vessels for the wider Ferretti Group.

Much of that original proposal survives in the finished yacht. The yard described nearly 370 square metres of outdoor space, a wellness area built around a gym, a spa and a pool, and a beach area meant to deliver "the thrill of close contact with the water in a relaxed and private setting." The design team was also confirmed from the outset: Officina Italiana Design, founded by Mauro Micheli and Sergio Beretta, working with the Strategic Product Committee led by Piero Ferrari and the Ferretti Group's engineering department, the same team behind every current Riva.

An all-aluminium hull kept weight down, and the yard put a preliminary top speed of 18 knots on the table, flagged clearly as early data. Delivery was planned for 2025. That date would slip by a year, and the finished yacht would end up both longer and beamier than first described.

Riva 54Metri launch in Ancona, August 2025

Two and a half years after the contract was signed, the first Riva 54METRI touched water at the Superyachts Division in Ancona. Launching marked the beginning of fitting out, commissioning and sea trials.

Alberto Galassi marked the occasion by tying the yacht directly to Riva's own history:

"This extraordinary yacht ... so magnificently celebrates the visionary genius of Carlo Riva and his megayacht project of the 1960s and 1970s, writing another spectacular page in the history of Riva and yachting as a whole."

At launch, Riva confirmed a length overall of 54 metres, a beam of 8.60 metres, and gross tonnage kept deliberately under 500 GT. Riva also confirmed the Moon Grey, London Grey and Bright Black colour scheme, offset with polished steel and the brand's trademark aquamarine waterline. Four decks were connected by a lift amidships, room for ten guests across four cabins plus a master suite at the bow, and eleven crew.

A transformer platform at the stern led to a beach area built around a pool, with both hull sides in the beach club and main deck cockpit designed to fold outward into terraces over the water. At the bow, two sun sofas concealed a mechanism for launching tenders and jet skis. The technical spec was already ambitious: four electric stabiliser fins, two electric rudders, dual X-band radar, a Full ECDIS system and Starlink.

The first yacht was named Sairu.

Riva 54Metri delivery and full specs, June 2026

By the time Riva formally unveiled the finished 54Metri in June 2026, the boat had grown slightly from her earlier description: 54.83 metres overall, a 9.18-metre beam, and a final gross tonnage of 499 GT.

Mauro Micheli and Sergio Beretta, the designers behind the boat from concept through to delivery, described the finished yacht as an "almost sculptural object." They pointed to the forward sweep of the deckhouse, the angled stern and the steel handrails as giving the yacht a recognisable Riva profile, and singled out the beach club, where four sections open out across two levels.

Beach club and main deck

At the stern, a transformer platform leads down to a 42.5 square metre beach area on the lower deck. The pool here is fitted with a heating system so it can stay full while the yacht is underway, rather than being drained for short transfers. Fold-out bulwarks on either side add another 20 square metres, taking the total beach area past 60 square metres.

Six steps up, the main deck cockpit adds a further 13.2 square metres of terrace from its own fold-out bulwarks, which can stay open even while cruising. Inside, the main salon splits into a living area aft and a dining space forward, flowing into one continuous room.

Master suite, guest cabins and upper decks

The master suite sits forward on the main deck, spanning the yacht's full beam, finished in the same teak, marble and leather palette shown at launch. Four further guest cabins sit on the lower deck, two VIP and two standard, in a mirrored layout.

The upper deck is built for entertaining, with a sky lounge, an outdoor dining area sheltered by integrated windscreens, and at the bow, two sun sofas that lift on hinges to reveal a garage for a tender and jet skis, with a built-in crane doubling as the navigation mast. The sun deck covers more than 100 square metres, with its own Jacuzzi using the same system that allows the water to remain heated while underway, matching the beach club pool below.

Engines, range and technology

Two MTU 12V2000 M96L engines, each producing 1,432 kW, give the yacht her 18-knot top speed and a range of roughly 3,600 nautical miles at 11 knots. Four Naiad Dynamics electric stabiliser fins keep things level at anchor and underway, chosen over a simpler two-fin layout partly to keep draught down to a maximum of just 2.25 metres.

Power comes from two 118kW Zenoro generators with a 150kVA frequency converter for clean shore power in any port. Connectivity runs through Starlink, with OneWeb readiness built in, behind an integrated cybersecurity system. Lloyd's Register has classified the build under LR 100 A1 SSC Yacht Mono G6 LMC.

Where the Riva 54Metri stands today

Sairu is now afloat, giving Riva its largest yacht yet. The beach club, folding terraces and wellness facilities were already central to the project when Riva announced it in 2023. Three years later, those elements remain at the heart of the finished yacht. The yacht was launched in 2025 and fully revealed the following June.