Sporting Heroes Turn To Water Sport with Riviera

Moto GP rider Chris Vermeulen, enjoying his off season break from racing, recently spent a day marlin fishing on Riviera’s corporate boat, 48 Offshore Express Fascination IV. 

Chris was joined by up and coming bike racers Blake and Jackson Leigh-Smith, who were able to show their racing hero some fishing tips while getting some advice from him on what racing at the top level of Moto GP is all about.
 
“It was my first marlin fishing trip,” explained Chris. “It would have been nice to see a fish, but it didn’t matter. I had a great day.  

“My experience of marlin fishing has been cruising around on a nice boat with my dad and some good mates, towing big lures and waiting for all hell to break loose. That’s my kind of fun. 

“I can’t wait to do it again and hopefully get one on the line next time, but I’m happy just being on the water.

“I was really impressed with ride and quality of the Riviera 48 Offshore Express and, when Bob Jones opened the throttles on those MTUs, it really got up and boogied.”

Chris owns a beautiful 44-foot catamaran and loves sailing it. 

“But if I get into marlin fishing as an off season sport, I will have to seriously consider a suitable power boat.

“I’ll certainly be talking to the team at Riviera because, apart from building really nice boats, they are Queensland based and we all need to support local industry whenever we can.”  

Another Australian sporting hero, demon fast bowler Jeff Thomson, took his sons on a fishing day aboard Fascination IV just a couple of weeks after Chris. His timing was impeccable.

“We all got a fish,” said Jeff. “It was great fun and Fascination IV is a great boat.”

Jeff is one of the all-time fastest bowlers in cricket, being recorded at more than 160 km/h during his test match career in the mid 1970s.

Jeff has been boating since he was seven years old and bought his first boat at the age of 17.

“I’ve owned about 40… both big and small since then,” he said. “I’ve always loved fishing and this was a great chance to spend time with my boys.”