Riva Argo 90 looks fast even when standing still

Sir William Lyons said that all Jaguars should look fast even when standing still. It appears the designers of the new Riva Argo 90 were given the same brief. The team at Officina Italiana Design – long-term partners of Riva – have managed to make the Argo look fast and fluid, despite its impressive size.

To call a yacht that’s 94 foot in length anything but large is laughable, but this Argo 90 is actually the smallest of Riva’s new generation of flybridge models. (The 100 Corsaro and 110 Dolcevita models are her bigger sisters.) Its streamlined aesthetic helps it look smaller than it is, its long elegant windows washing over the hull's lines like waves.

The Argo’s aerodynamic qualities certainly come in handy on the open sea. With the top-of-the-range twin MTU 16V 2000 M96 engines, it’s capable of hitting 30 knots with a 26-knot maximum cruising speed. A total of 4,870hp will do that for you…

But to think of this as a sports yacht would be to misjudge. This is a luxury yacht – just one that moves very fast.

The garage can accommodate a Williams Sportjet 395 tender and a jet ski – impressive for a yacht this size

There’s an above-deck swimming platform; a full-beam VIP suite with walk-in wardrobe; and a 40m lounge with panoramic balconies.

The 30m cockpit has a variety of layouts you can choose from – our preference is the one with the bar unit, two stools, two sofas and a coffee table by Paola Lenti. (They don’t call them gin palaces for nothing.)

In the stern, the garage can accommodate a Williams Sportjet 395 tender and a jet ski – impressive for a yacht this size. Although, why you’d ever want to get off this ship is anyone’s guess.

The name comes from the vessel of the famous Argonauts (of Jason fame) – and the first ever ship to sail the seas. All you need now is to find the golden fleece to go with it…