Riva 96' Argo Super
| LOA | 28.79 m (94 ft 5 in) |
|---|---|
| Beam | 6.5 m (21 ft 4 in) |
| Draft | about 2.1 m |
| Engines | twin MTU 12V 2000 M96X, 2,000 hp each standard; optional twin M96Z at 2,222 hp each |
| Speed | Riva's own figures give 26.5 kn top / 22.5 kn cruise (standard) or 28 kn / 24 kn (optional engines); Boat International and other press list a 30 kn top speed for the same hull - the two disagree |
| Range | 320 nm at 22 kn (standard engines) or 300 nm (optional engines), per Riva's spec sheet |
| Fuel | 8,700 litres; fresh water: 1,320 litres |
| Layout | full-beam main-deck master, 3 guest cabins standard (4 optional), 2 crew cabins |
| Standard equipment | twin Seakeeper NG18 + NG10 stabilisers, Watchit collision-prevention, Xenta X-AID with virtual anchor, stern thruster |
| Launched | 20 July 2026 at La Spezia; public debut Cannes Yachting Festival, September 2026 |
| Design | Officina Italiana Design with Ferretti Group Strategic Product Committee and Engineering Department |
An evolution, not a stretch
Riva floated out the first 96' Argo Super at its La Spezia yard, the facility dedicated to the marque's 21 to 40 metre projects, on 20 July 2026. The hull then ran sea trials over the following weeks before its official public debut at the Cannes Yachting Festival in September 2026, alongside a second world premiere, the smaller 56' Rivale Super. Officina Italiana Design drew the boat again, working as always with the Ferretti Group's Strategic Product Committee and Engineering Department, the same team responsible for every Riva since 1994.
Ferretti Group CEO Stassi Anastassov framed the launch in continuity terms rather than novelty for its own sake: "History does not make a brand iconic. The courage to reinvent it, generation after generation, does," he said at the unveiling, a line repeated across Riva's own release and the trade press covering the launch. The six extra feet over the 90' Argo are not spent on a bigger party deck so much as redistributed through the boat, which is the real story of what changed.
Where the extra length actually went
Megayacht News and Boat International both describe the same core change: the 90' Argo's lower-deck day head moves up to a position just inside the aft-deck doors on the 96, a small relocation with a real payoff, because it releases volume for the guest accommodation below that a day head used to eat into. The standard layout keeps three guest staterooms, expandable to four, with the full-beam master suite staying on the main deck and gaining larger glazed surfaces than the 90 carried.
Outside, the aft platform gets a sunpad built into the garage door with handrails and cup holders, a motorised swim platform that raises and lowers, and a dining area with adjustable-backrest settees around a table plus a nearby refrigerator, sized by Riva for entertaining up to ten guests at the stern alone. The flybridge adds a bar unit and mahogany-topped tables for evening use, on top of the sunpads and helm the Argo family already carried. The interior palette shifts too, from the 90's glossy mahogany to a lacquered wenge and pale matt oak finish with polished stainless steel accents, a cooler, more contemporary read than the outgoing boat without abandoning real wood.
Riva's newest flybridge takes the 90' Argo formula, frees up the lower deck, and adds a flybridge built for the evening as much as the day.
Two engines, two sets of numbers, and a genuine disagreement in print
The standard engine pairing is twin MTU 12V 2000 M96X units at 2,000 hp each, giving a manufacturer-quoted 26.5 knot top speed and 22.5 knot cruise with a 320 nautical mile range at 22 knots. The optional twin M96Z engines step up to 2,222 hp each for a 28 knot top speed, 24 knot cruise and a slightly shorter 300 nautical mile range. Riva's own model page and Yachting Magazine's report on the Cannes debut, published independently by journalist Sam White on 3 September 2026, agree on both sets of figures down to the half-knot.
Set against that, Boat International's Superyacht Directory lists a flat 30 knot top speed and 25 knot cruise for the same hull, a figure Robb Report and YachtBuyer's fleet listing also carry. Fuel and water tankage do not have the same problem: 8,700 litres of fuel and 1,320 litres of fresh water appear identically on Riva's own spec sheet and in YachtBuyer's listing. Gross tonnage is a similar mess to the speed figures, given as 114 GT by Boat International's directory and 140 GT by YachtBuyer for the same boat, a gap too wide to average or explain away, so Yotters is not printing a gross tonnage figure for this model until the discrepancy resolves.
What is fitted as standard
YachtBuyer's specification listing and the Yachting Magazine and Megayacht News coverage of the Cannes debut all name the same standard package: two Seakeeper gyroscopic stabilisers, an NG18 and an NG10 working together, plus the Watchit collision-avoidance system and Xenta's X-AID docking and manoeuvring aid, which includes a virtual anchor function that holds station using thrust rather than ground tackle and adapts to real-time wind and current. A stern thruster is also listed as standard equipment.
What none of the sources checked publish is a generator make or output, a gearbox specification, or a watermaker capacity, despite the fresh water tank figure being firm. That is a real gap for a buyer used to comparing engine-room spec sheets line for line, and it is worth raising with a Riva dealer directly rather than assuming a figure. Aluminium is used for both hull and superstructure, a lighter and more corrosion-resistant build than the GRP construction common at this size, with a draft of about 2.1 metres on Riva's own figures.
Who the 96' Argo Super suits
The 96' Argo Super is aimed squarely at the buyer who already likes the Argo idea, an owner-driven flybridge cruiser with a beach club and a proper raised helm, but wants the specific fixes this generation makes: more below-deck privacy from the relocated day head, a stern that does more work at anchor, and a flybridge built for entertaining after dark rather than just cruising by day. Coming from the 90' Argo, the changes read as refinement rather than reinvention, which is exactly the case Riva's own messaging makes.
It is less suited to a buyer who wants independent, hands-on verification before ordering. Hull 01 was still on its introductory tour, having just reached Cannes, when this was researched, so there is no independent sea trial, no owner or crew account and no resale or charter history to check against the brochure. A buyer who needs that kind of proof is better served waiting a season, or looking at the well-documented 90' Argo it sits beside.
Motoren und Technik
| Engines | Standard twin MTU 12V 2000 M96X at 2,000 hp each; optional twin MTU 12V 2000 M96Z at 2,222 hp each - the only generation built so far, per Riva's own spec sheet and corroborated by Yachting Magazine's 3 September 2026 report on the Cannes debut. |
|---|---|
| Speed and range | Riva's own figures: 26.5 kn top / 22.5 kn cruise and 320 nm range at 22 kn on the standard engines; 28 kn top / 24 kn cruise and 300 nm on the optional engines. Boat International's Superyacht Directory and other press instead list a flat 30 kn top speed and 25 kn cruise for the same hull - Yotters could not resolve the conflict from sources checked, so both figures are given rather than picked or averaged. |
| Gearboxes and generator | Not published in any source checked - not on Riva's own spec sheet, nor in the press coverage of the launch and Cannes debut. |
| Stabilisers and manoeuvring | Twin Seakeeper NG18 and NG10 gyroscopic stabilisers standard, plus the Watchit collision-prevention system and Xenta's X-AID manoeuvring aid with a virtual anchor function, per YachtBuyer's specification listing and press coverage of the Cannes debut. |
| Thrusters | A stern thruster is listed as standard by YachtBuyer; no source checked mentions a bow thruster, which is worth confirming directly with a dealer. |
| Watermaker and tankage | No watermaker capacity is published anywhere checked. Fuel tankage of 8,700 litres and fresh water tankage of 1,320 litres are confirmed identically by Riva's own spec sheet and YachtBuyer's listing. |
| Hull and construction | Aluminium hull and superstructure, 28.79 m LOA, 6.5 m beam, about 2.1 m draft per Riva's own figures (YachtBuyer lists 2.15 m, effectively the same figure rounded differently). |
Was Eigner und Crew berichten
The builder frames the model as reinvention, not just a refresh
"History does not make a brand iconic. The courage to reinvent it, generation after generation, does," Anastassov said at the unveiling, a line built around the six added feet being spent on layout and systems rather than headline size.
Stassi Anastassov, CEO, Ferretti GroupNo owner, captain or crew commentary exists yet
As of September 2026, hull 01 has only just reached its public debut at the Cannes Yachting Festival following July's launch and summer sea trials, so there is no independent owner, charter or crew report to cite - only the builder's own launch statements and press coverage derived from them, labelled as such here rather than presented as owner experience.
Yotters research, September 2026
Was gut ist und worauf zu achten ist
Stärken
- A real, specific evolution rather than a length increase for its own sakeThe relocated day head, reworked beach club and busier flybridge are documented, traceable fixes to how the 90' Argo actually lived aboard, not just added length - per Megayacht News and Boat International's coverage of the launch.
- Serious stabilisation and safety electronics as standard, not optionsTwin Seakeeper NG18 and NG10 stabilisers, Watchit collision prevention and Xenta X-AID with a virtual anchor function all come standard, a stronger baseline package than many rivals at this size offer without a cost sheet.
- A genuine choice of two engine packages from day oneThe standard MTU M96X and optional M96Z give a real speed-versus-range trade-off at order time, both figures published by the yard itself.
- Continuity of design and engineering authorshipThe same Officina Italiana Design and Ferretti Group Engineering Department team that has drawn every Riva since 1994 built this one, which is a real, documented thread of authorship rather than a marketing claim.
Worauf zu achten ist
- The public record disagrees with itself on basic numbersTop speed is given as anywhere from 26.5 to 30 knots and gross tonnage as either 114 or 140 GT depending on which named source is read, a genuine gap in the public record this early rather than a rounding difference.
- No independent sea trial or owner account exists yetHull 01 had only just reached its Cannes debut when this was researched, so every performance and comfort claim currently traces back to the builder's own material or press coverage derived from it.
- Modest range for the fuel carried300 to 320 nautical miles from an 8,700 litre tank is unremarkable for a near-29 metre yacht, a similar trade-off to other recent flybridge launches in this size class that prioritise living space over long-range cruising.
- Several engine-room specifics are simply missingNo gearbox, generator or watermaker specification is published anywhere Yotters could find, leaving a buyer with real gaps to fill in with a dealer before ordering.
Praktische Angaben
| Price | No public price was found anywhere checked - not on Riva's own site, not with a broker, and not in press coverage of the launch or Cannes debut. Normal for a yacht this new; treat it as the honest answer rather than a research gap. |
|---|---|
| How to buy one | Order through Riva's dealer network or the Ferretti Group directly. Hull 01 was built at Riva's La Spezia facility, the yard dedicated to the marque's 21 to 40 metre projects and the same site building the rest of the current Argo-family and Corsaro-family hulls. |
| Running costs | Not published and not yet findable - hull 01 was still on its introductory tour when this was researched, with no charter listing, brokerage resale or independent running-cost report yet in existence. |
| Comparable model | The Riva 90' Argo, already in the range and six feet shorter, is the direct comparison point Riva's own messaging and the trade press both use - the 96' Argo Super is explicitly positioned as its evolution rather than a separate model line. |
| What is not published | Price, gearbox make and model, generator make and output, watermaker capacity, a single settled top-speed figure (26.5-30 kn depending on source), and a single settled gross tonnage figure (114 GT per Boat International against 140 GT per YachtBuyer) - see the systems block for the specific conflicts. |
Für wen: An existing or prospective Riva Argo owner who wants the newest word on the formula, more usable lower-deck space and a flybridge built for evenings, and who does not need an independent sea trial or owner track record before ordering.