The Forecast For Lake Tahoe: Hot Italian Rivas And The Aroma Of Varnish All Weekend

After years of planning, in just a few days the Lake Tahoe Concours d’Elegance celebrates it’s 40th Anniversary with the magnificent Riva Aquarama as the 2012 Marque Class. We spoke to fellow Woody Boater Marty Feletto last night and he said…

“After over two years of planning, everything is coming together nicely as we celebrate the Riva Aquarama and also Carlo Riva’s 90th birthday. With over 35 Rivas attending the show this year, including 20 Aquarama’s, this will be the largest gathering of Riva’s in history in the USA, and it’s going to be spectacular!”

“The Riva Club USA (RCUSA) also has a number of events planned during the show, starting Thursday night and ending on Monday with the “Zoom” event (a salute to the Super Aquarama Zoom), which is an all day circumnavigation of Lake Tahoe.”

Then in late August, Marty and 32 Riva enthusiasts from the USA are off to Italy to attend the big RHS 2012 Riva Days at Sarnico, Lake Iseo, Italy to get together with thier fellow Riva friends and celebrate Carlo Riva’s 90th birthday on the shores of beautiful Lake Iseo in the mountains of Northern Italy. RHS (Riva Historical Society) members and the Riva family will participate in tours of the Riva Factory, Navigation and Piloting competitions, picnics on the lake, classic race-boat displays and many other wonderful attractions.

The offical Boat Show Lineup has now been released by the Tahoe Yacht Club Foundation / Liquid Blue Events for the 40th Annual Lake Tahoe Concours d’Elegance Wooden Boat Show which is set for August 10-11, 2012 at the Sierra Boat Company in Carnelian Bay, California.

They note – “Along with the 20 Marque Class boats, a total of 77 of the most pristine classic wooden boats in the world will compete for top honors along the shoreline of worldrenowned Lake Tahoe, making this year’s show the most valuable collection ever gathered for the Concours d’Elegance at an estimated value of over $15 million.” You can Click Here to see the offical list, it’s a big file so you may have to give it a few seconds to download.

TIEVOLI – 1969 27′ Riva Aquarama

Tievoli 1969 27′ Riva Aquarama #332
220-hp ea., 8-cylinder Riva Crusader (2) engines
Bill & Mary Jo Shepherd, Lafayette, Calif.

“Tievoli” is Riva 332 in the 1969 Aquarama series numbered from 306 to 370. She was originally delivered to a Norwegian businessman at St. Tropez and christened Kalmouck. As the story goes, after many years of motoring off Monaco, her owner was forced to sell after a business downturn. The boat was sold to a boat yard in Bremerhaven and re-sold to a boat builder in Hamberg.

The Aquarama finally found its way to the Shepherds in California where it lives at Lake Tahoe with the name of Tievoli: “I Love It” spelled backwards.

One of the many beautifully restored wooden boats which is entered in this year’s show is “Y.P.” – A rare 1952 21′ Stan-Craft Torpedo.

Y.P. – 1952 21′ Stan-Craft Torpedo
130-hp, 6-cylinder Chrysler Crown engine
Jerry & Charlene Appel, Lakeside, Montana.

The Appels’ found this Stan-Craft Tropedo boat in a field in Eastern Montana, where it had been for about 18 years. After bringing her home and five-and-a-half years of hard work, she is ready to show. The boat was built in Appels’ hometown of Lakeside for Yellowstone National Park (the reason for her Y.P. name), to be used for rides on Yellowstone Lake. The picture (of the completed boat below) was taken at the old Stan-Craft Marina, where she and only 10 more like her were built.

We had the opportunity to see this fantastic Stan-Craft Torpedo last year at a few shows in Montana & Idaho, and loved it from day one. Jerry & Charlene are wonderful people and have embraced the hobby, and Jerry is a true craftsman in every way, with both metal and wood. Here’s what the boat looked like when they found it…

And what it looks like today…

Jerry and Charlene completed the majority of the restoration work themselves, and worked with Andrew Kerfoot from Wood Boat Endeavor in Post Falls, Idaho who assisted with the final prep work, staining, varnish, etc.

Check out that mint original foot operated gas pedel with the Stan-Craft script…

Jerry even designed and built his own boat trailer for Y.P. which is an absolute work-of-art…

So if you are planning to attend this years show, make sure you stop by and visit with Jerry & Charlene, and check out their boat. And if you are still on the fence about attending this year’s big show, just load up the wife & kids, fuel up the station wagon and set the GPS (or roadmap) for Carnelian Bay, California. There’s nothing quite like visiting historic Lake Tahoe in August!

For more information on the 2012 Lake Tahoe Concours d’Elegance you can Click Here to go to their website.

And last but not least, we have to say thanks to Herb Hall and the crew at Sierra Boat Company for everything they do to make this world class event possible.

Texx