Riviera new 4400 Series II Sport Yacht debut at Sydney Boat Show

More power, more style, more luxury, more options; Riviera’s stunning new 4400 Series II Sport Yacht will make her world debut at the 2011 Sydney International Boat Show held from July 28 to August 1.

The latest model from Australia’s largest and most awarded pleasure boat builder is tipped to be a crowd pleaser with the option of Zeus pod drives and twin 480 horsepower Cummins engines, additional cockpit seating, a new extended hardtop, increased head room in the aft cabin, and the 4400 Series II is the first in the Sport Yacht range to introduce large hull windows as a striking design element.

Riviera’s concept design manager Neil McCabe said the new hardtop, targa and hull windows have enhanced the aesthetics of the boat significantly from the popular Series I.

“The exciting new options that we introduced on our later Sport Yacht and Flybridge models have also been introduced on the 4400 Series II have made a great boat even better,” he said.

“We have added LED lighting throughout and it’s the first in our Sport Yacht line with large hull windows, which bring additional light into the forward and aft cabins and they really help to open the boat up.

“We have added fabric to the bulkheads which aids the acoustic qualities below decks and deadens any sound.

“There is a new bench helm seat and a new fully upholstered dash which allows for larger electronics and gives a nice soft feel.  Opposite the helm on the port side is a new wraparound U-shaped lounge that provides greater comfort and seating.

“We have added a small seat out on the swim platform because we noticed that people liked this feature on the 5800 Sport Yacht so we have taken design features that our customers like and added them to our new models.

“When you are at anchor you can lower the swim platform part way down and sit on the seat with a drink and dangle your feet in the water.  How good is that?”

Riviera’s naval architect Alan Dowd said the hull on the new 4400 Series II Sport Yacht has been adapted for the Zeus drive option with the twin Cummins 480 horsepower engines.

“At the present moment it has IPS as standard but now we have added the option to have Zeus drives.  The primary difference between IPS and Zeus drives is the propeller arrangement, IPS has forward facing propellers while the Zeus drive propellers are aft facing,” Alan said.

“Zeus has integral trim tab design that can be automatically programmed so that they apply as the boat speeds up.  The trim tabs can be programmed to be on hard as the boat accelerates and automatically reduce as the boat gets on the plane.”

Neil said, “Along with the new engine propulsion option, we have introduced many of the features from the 5000 Sport Yacht that are so popular such as the additional cockpit seating, with a table that can convert to a sun lounge, so the cockpit is the perfect cruising and entertainment arrangement.”

Alan said the 4400 Sport Yacht was a strong selling model with more than 76 boats sold since 2008 will be even more attractive to the boating market with the new styling and design enhancements as well as the Zeus drive option.

View the 4400 Sport Yacht SII Riviera’s floating display, located on the southern end of the Cockle Bay Marina, Darling Harbour from July 28 to August 1.

Riviera offers 20 different models from 36 to 85 feet across four model series Flybridge, Sport Yacht, Offshore Express and Motor Yachts.