I’ve been driving to Lago di Garda many times and every single time I get lost between Arco and Riva. Lately with the addition of an argument where to go. Grrrrrr! Why take the short way when you can take a detour? Why drive away from the lake and spend an extra 45 min in the countryside before you see the lake again? And why follow directions from the street signs when you have an American GPS who cannot even pronounce the names in such way so you can recognize them? Lots of potential for an argument or two I guess. But as they say: all roads lead to Rome…..
What Lago di Garda is for sailing, Lago d‘Iseo is for motorboats! What Lago di Garda is for Germans, Lake Como for Americans, Lago d’Iseo has its own tourist group: Italians. And all of them are beautiful.
In the 1950s several companies around Lago d‘Iseo built wooden motorboats. Competition was tight and that leads to better quality. And better quality means that lower quality companies have a hard time to survive. In the 1970 there were only two companies left. Riva was famous for building top notch wooden motorboats, Bellini right up to par, but when Bellinis founder died at a young age, his son had to make a hard decision: stay in competition with Riva or change the business model. He decided to change. His idea: Restauration of Riva wooden motorboats! And what a great idea that was! During the 1990s Riva went through a big transition: no more wooden boats, fiberglass was the new material that all international competitors were using, so did Riva. Was this good or bad for Bellini? It turns out good, no more wooden boats were built, so people who owned one would rather go through with a remodeling than buy something made of fiberglass! Ever since then, Bellini is busy taking on up to 15 boats for restauration at the same time, with winter months more busy than summer months. There is a waitlist and waiting you have to like: it takes one whole year to finish one boat! But boy do they do a good job!
Ted had booked a tour to Bellini, that’s where all the magic happens. In an industrial area in XXX we finally found the place and went inside. The first floor is the workshop with nine boats being restored right now, each in a different step along the process. The second floor is dedicated to Bellinis private collection of Riva boats.
Everything is there, from the wooden row boat (1920) to a double engine 2×350 hp Aquarama, a stunning beauty. You can find boats that were produced 139 times and only 1 exists. And that 1 is right there, in Bellinis private collection. Another boat was a collaboration with Chris Craft! When Ted heard that, he was in heaven. He felt like somebody had announced that he is related to the King of England! Which makes his Chris Craft being a Riva cousin, which makes him royalty!
I’d highly recommend visiting this place! Exquisite in craftsmanship combined with classic Italian design. Although I’m not a boat person, my heart beats faster; this definitely a slice of heaven!
