New Riviera 61 Series II will make waves with 12 water-skiers in tow

To celebrate the world release of the new 61 Series II Enclosed Flybridge, Riviera hosted a pre-launch of the sparkling new vessel by towing 12 professional water-skiers the length of the Gold Coast’s Broadwater this morning.

The Sydney owners of this latest model from the Australia’s award-winning pleasure boat builder recently took delivery their new $2.75 million vessel and wanted to do something special to celebrate its launch before it was officially released to the world at the 2011 Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show on May 19.

The new 61 Series II features 3100 horse power and with 12 professional water-skiers in tow, the 61 turned heads as she cruised up the Broadwater.

Riviera’s director of brand and communication Stephen Milne said it was a very impressive scene.

“To see this magnificent vessel towing 12 professional water-skiers carrying the Riviera flags was certainly spectacular and is the first time in Australia that a Riviera has towed so many water-skiers,” Mr Milne said.

“The owners of this vessel were so excited when they took delivery last month that they wanted to do something unique to celebrate the launch.”

The owners said they had been avid water skiers for the past 28 years so to have Riviera launch their new vessel with 12 professional water-skiers in tow was quite fitting.

They said they were extremely impressed with the finished result after buying the boat off the plan at the Sydney International Boat Show last year.

“It was absolutely what we thought it would be.  The three-dimensional view of the boat gave us a good indication of what it was going to look like and how it was going to work, it’s just unbelievable,” they said.

The new owners of the 61 Series II have previously owned 11 new Rivieras including the 3300, 36 Flybridge, 4000 Offshore, M290, M430, M360, M400, 45, 51, and 43 Offshore.

“We were looking for a larger cruising vessel, as we plan to spend three months in Hamilton Island.  We were looking for more room and fuel capacity and the 61 Series II with her world class quality ticked all the boxes,” they said.

“We watched the boat coming together through the build process and after the Sanctuary Cove Boat Show we will head north to Hamilton Island.

“We look forward to relaxing and unwinding on board.  We plan to stay at the outer reefs and with a larger fuel load and water making capacity we can do this.”

The new 61 Series II will make her world debut at the 2011 Sanctuary Cove International Boat next week and with three of these new models currently under construction for owners in Australia and Central America, Riviera anticipates this model will be extremely well-received by the boating market.