It is 1842: Pietro, a skilled caulker, leaves Lake Como and settles at Sarnico on Lake Iseo. This was the start of the Riva adventure. First he built fishing boats, then steamboats, followed by his first speedboats and pleasure boats. In the 1950s and 1960s the Riva Boatyard was internationally successful and the motorboats produced by Carlo, the latest embodiment of the family spirit, eclipsed the reputation of imported watercraft. The period that followed saw a marked evolution in the principles of design and construction of pleaseure craft. Materials changed, there were new technologies and uses. The boats launched at Sarnico were designer products, appreciated for their form, the quality of their engines and the care lavished on the details of construction. In May 2000 Ferretti Spa, in the person of the president Norberto Ferretti, took over the yard with a clear commitment to safeguard and develop Riva's corporate culture. Aquariva now paid tribute to Aquarama, reinventing its type and "embodying the principle of the evolution of the Riva guidelines in the most advanced technological scenario". There followed founding models such as Rivarama and Rivale, Ego, Ego Super and Sportriva. In the pages of this book, Decio Giulio Riccardo Carugati relates, in his characteristic manner, a story, the history of a legend, the evolution of a myth. Refined illustrations present the finest images of some of the best-known craft and the people who have helped to create the intriguing and fascinating world of yachting in over a century.