Veteran sailor shares his experience at the Riviera boats stand

Riviera will have a special guest of honour at this year’s Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show held from May 20-23.

Veteran blue water sailor and Melbourne businessman, Ian Reynolds will be at the Riviera display with his 56 Enclosed Flybridge, Investigator V, the vessel he used to circumnavigate Australia.

Mr Reynolds, at the age of 79 embarked on the challenging task of circumnavigating Australia, some 9,000 miles, clockwise from the Gold Coast returning home in October 2008.

But before he could make this dream of circumnavigating Australia by power boat a reality, Mr Reynolds and his crew made the 842 nautical mile voyage from the Gold Coast to Lord Howe Island as a shake down cruise for testing systems and checking fuel and range calculations in his new 56 Enclosed Flybridge.

His most recent challenge, aged 81, was the month-long voyage, a total of 1380 nautical miles, to Papua New Guinea for the second annual Louisiades Rally.

His next venture will take him to China in search of an Aids cure but this will mean the sale of his beloved Riviera 56 Enclosed Flybridge, Investigator V, which will be on display and offered for sale for the first time at Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show.  Mr Reynolds said the opportunity to continue the work into a cure for Aids presented a challenge he could not resist.

Riviera CEO John Anderson said it was an honour to have Mr Reynolds at the Riviera display.

“Ian Reynolds has a remarkable story of a man who has proved that age has no boundaries or limitations and his determination to accomplish his life-long dream of circumnavigating Australia is testament to his character and our boats,” Mr Anderson said.

“Mr Reynolds will be at the Riviera stand with his 56 Enclosed Flybridge during the show to share his adventures with show goers, so I encourage people to take the opportunity to meet and be inspired by the man himself.”

Riviera enjoys a 22 year history at Sanctuary Cove and will be in its usual location at the beginning of F Marina.

Covering more than 2362 square metres, the Riviera display will showcase Riviera’s latest designs including from the Sport Yacht range; the 3600 with IPS, the 4400 with IPS, the 5800 with IPS, and for the first time at Sanctuary Cove, the 5000 with Zeus drives; from the Flybridge range; the world release of the new 43 Open, the 38, 47, and for the first time at Sanctuary Cove, the 51 Enclosed Flybridge with IPS and 56 Open and 56 Enclosed Flybridges will be on display; the 43 Offshore Express will also be showcased at the floating display. 

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