Riviera Yachts won us over with its Sport Yacht series. The boats are epic poems to the Aussie boating life, offering the ideal combination of indoor-outdoor living atop lithe, stout hulls built to take on the notorious seas off Australia.
The model line, which ranges from 46 to 60 feet, was enhanced several years ago with the Platinum Series. In-house customization gives these boats modified exterior and interior styling cues that include gunmetal hulls and dark electronics arrays, with matching soft goods and other luxe touches. The popularity of this approach is undeniable. By the time the flagship 6800 Platinum Edition made her U.S. premiere at the 2024 Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, the builder had already sold 30 hulls.
Boarding from the swim platform, I was happy to see not only the open transom door to the tender garage, but also the fact that the dinghy (up to 12 feet) sat in a cradle that is launched with an electric winch onto the hydraulic platform. Keeping it simple, I thought.
Another nice touch was a built-in rain shower within the transom door, which is split. Its smaller port side grants access to the engine room, which is well organized with well over 6 feet of headroom but limited space (because of the tender garage) above the 12.8-liter engines. Access points are within easy reach, with the outboard engine-room areas dedicated to air-conditioning chillers, a pair of gensets and a bank of LiFePO4 batteries. A watertight door leads to a utility room and the crew quarters, and into the master stateroom. With the vast majority of Riviera buyers being owner-operators, easy access to the mechanicals is a must.
Flanking stairs led me from the swim step to the 150-square-foot cockpit, which is my favorite space on the 6800. There’s room for 10 people on two settees, along with a barbecue grill, refrigerator drawers and a folding dining table. A hardtop protects the area from the sun, with tinted glass quarter panels and an electrically retractable blind that shields the after section. An electric sunroof allows for light and a breeze. For all-day sun worshippers, the foredeck lounge beckons.
Like previous Sport Yachts, this one has indoor-outdoor boundaries that are blurred from the cockpit to the salon. A large electric window is to port, and a glass-and-steel sliding door connects the areas. With her split galley aft, I had the impression of one grand entertaining space.
Close the door, and the salon still shines. The glossy walnut strikes a cool counterpoint to the light-tone soft goods and the starboard helm, which gets the full Platinum treatment. It has a pair of infinitely adjustable, Recaro-style seats with handsome diamond stitching and carbon-fiber accents around the multifunction displays. Views for the captain are excellent thanks to the double-pane windshield and side glass. Similar to its sisterships, the 6800 has an L-shape settee opposite the helm, an amidships lounge and a retractable roof. (For close-quarters maneuvers, the cockpit has wing stations on each side with joystick and thruster controls.)
Six steps down from the helm, a centerline companionway led me to her accommodations. They include an amidships, full-beam master, a VIP forward and a pair of staterooms with twin berths (three of the four staterooms are en suite). I prefer the optional three-stateroom layout that subs out the cross-berth stateroom for a lower lounge, the only caveat being that one of the en suites is pressed into service as a day head.
Performance-wise, the 6800 fits right in with her brethren. The only engine option is a pair of 1,000-hp Volvo Penta D13s mated to IPS drives, which look to be ideally matched to her hull. When tested off the builder’s Gold Coast facility, she saw a top speed above 32 knots and a fast cruise just shy of 26 knots. The sweet spot looks to be 1,800 rpm and 20.5 knots, which returns a range of 451 nautical miles with a 10 percent reserve. At 8 knots, the 6800 is good for 1,350 nm.
Other notable standards on the 6800 include a Humphree trim and stabilization package, CZone digital switching and Volvo Penta’s Assisted Docking system.
Riviera reached a major milestone recently by splashing its 6,000th boat. With the 6800, the builder took all of its experience from the previous 45 years and put it into a model that’s crafted to the highest standard.
Riviera 6800 Sport Yacht Specifications:
LOA: 72ft. 9in.
Beam: 18ft. 3in.
Draft: 5ft. 5in.
Displacement: 81,791 lbs.
Fuel: 1,189 gal.
Water: 211 gal.
Power: 2x 1,000-hp Volvo Penta D13-IPS1350
Info: rivieraaustralia.com
