The New Riviera 53 Flybridge Review- By David Prior

The new Riviera 53 Enclosed Flybridge received plenty of praise for its styling, interior layout, and finish at its world release at the Sanctuary Cove Boat Show, and deservedly so. But what is it like at sea?

I was fortunate enough to find out a couple of weeks later when I went out on Riviera 53 Enclosed Flybridge number one for a sea trial with Peter Welch from Riviera. I was also fortunate that there was about a metre and half of slop on the Southport seaway caused by the last of the run out tide and a developed southeast swell outside. All boats handle well in the calm of the Broadwater, and some boats handle well in a developed sea in the open ocean, the Riviera 53 Enclosed Flybridge does both.

The bow on the 53 is higher than any other Riviera before, and after punching through the slop on the seaway bar there was not a drop of water on the flybridge windows, this is a Riviera that runs very dry. Once outside we headed south running head on to the swell and then quarter on the bow and beam on, still no water on the flybridge windows, and after launching of a swell with no back to it the 53 landed softly with no shaking or rattles, a very solid feel to it. Turning north, with a following sea, the triple ips boat is brilliant. The combination of having the engines well aft in the boat, three drives and a high bow makes the 53 track straight on course with absolutely no tendency to broach.

The team at Riviera have done a terrific job of designing a flybridge boat with a large interior volume that will handle sea conditions from any directions predictably and safely .As with all ips boats fuel usage is excellent with a 23 knot cruise burning 190 litres per hour. This figure is with 100 per cent fuel load 100 per cent fresh water and 3 adults on board. The seakeeping ability of the Riviera 53 Enclosed Flybridge is just part of the picture, the joystick control for ease of docking, the low noise levels and lack of any vibration whilst underway, the huge storage area in the lazarette, the c zone system for controlling ac and dc systems are just some of the other features that impressed me.

David Prior

Click here to view the Riviera 53 Enclosed Flybridge