Coomera, Queensland, Australia: An extremely strong surge of registrations for the 2015 Riviera Festival of Boating – which this year includes 11 brand-new educational workshops – has prompted a timely reminder for people to book early to secure places for their preferred events.

The latest in luxury yacht technology and design, along with four
new model announcements, will be showcased exclusively
at the Riviera Festival of Boating and Gold Coast International Marine Expo.

Now in it’s 4^th year, this truly unique festival of fun and learning helps owners and aspiring owners of luxury motoryachts to use their boats to their full potential, and this year includes over 70 informative educational and fun social events across four fantastic days (21-24 May 2015).

“The early interest in the 2015 Festival is extremely encouraging and registrations to date have been strong right across the entire spectrum of events – from line-work, systems operation and new technology demonstrations right through to offshore seamanship and navigation seminars, as well as our very special social events,” said Riviera director of brand and communications, Stephen Milne.

“We remind our owners and aspiring owners that numbers are limited and we are urging anyone who is interested in attending any event to register online at the Festival website (www.FestivalOfBoating.com) to avoid disappointment.”

Importantly, all Festival events are open to everyone, even aspiring owners of a luxury yacht.

“The Riviera Festival of Boating was created to help everyone who loves boating to acquire the skills to experience everything from weekend harbour and coastal cruising to extended coastal passages to wonderful destinations,” said Mr Milne.

The finer points of offshore navigation will be discussed in detail
at a new workshop for 2015.

“The Festival provides the skills and motivation for motoryacht owners to gain the confidence to stretch their sea legs and experience the exhilaration of blue-water cruising, in the company of fellow Riviera owners who all share the same passion,” said Mr Milne.

Among the 11 new Festival educational seminars for 2015 are Marine Assist focusing on emergency essentials, Understanding the Weather conducted by an expert meteorologist, Living the Riviera Dream with David and Sue Rogers who spent three months living aboard their 43 Open Flybridge, Escape, and Sydney to Singapore with Riviera skipper Tim Edwards, which includes details of an epic leg from Darwin to Singapore aboard the 75 Enclosed Flybridge, Seabreeze, without stopping for fuel.

Others include Offshore Navigation, Provisioning & Planning, Ask a Riviera Expert, Experience a Seakeeper gyro, The Simplicity of C-Zone, The Glass Cockpit and, of course, The Riviera Express factory tour by train.

“Riviera will also be conducting 60-minute fully narrated train and bus factory tours of our world-class luxury boat building facility – the largest in the Southern Hemisphere – with the train departing regularly on each of the four fantastic days of the Festival,” said Mr Milne.

“This will be an opportunity to see behind the scenes how a Riviera is hand built – from lamination through to engineering and final fit-out, right through to our comprehensive pre-delivery quality control procedures. In fact the train tours were so popular when we first introduced them at the Gold Coast International Marine Expo in October, that this time we will have a bigger train.”

Mr Milne reminded visitors that the very popular Festival social events require tickets to be pre-purchased in advance for catering purposes.

“This year the social events include a Perfume Masterclass ladies luncheon on Friday, a seafood-inspired Dock of the Bay marina party on Friday evening, as well as a spectacular R Factor gala on Saturday evening where some of the best voices in Australia will battle it out for supremacy.  We have already sold hundreds of tickets to our 2015 social events, so places now are limited,” he said.

“All of the most popular Festival events have also been retained for 2015 and have been comprehensively reviewed and refreshed in consultation with visitors and the experts who conduct them.

“Even if our visitors have previously attended individual Festival seminars, there will definitely be something new and valuable to take away from attending this year.”

Mr Milne said staging such a unique event also enables Riviera to welcome members of its global family of owners to the home of Riviera at Coomera on Australia’s Gold Coast – the largest luxury yacht building facility in the Southern Hemisphere.

“Of course it also gives us the opportunity to showcase our latest range of luxurious Riviera and Belize motoryachts – and this year we have a stunning $15 million red-carpet, on-water display,” he said.

“Also this year we will be announcing three new Riviera models and an entirely new yacht design, exclusively at the Riviera Festival of Boating and Gold Coast International Marine Expo.”

The dates of the Expo – a massive showcase of all things aquatic featuring everything from superyachts to jet skis, kayaks to fishing equipment … and everything else in between – this year align with the Riviera Festival of Boating, creating four fantastic days at the Gold Coast Marine Precinct at Coomera featuring every marine display imaginable, all in one place.

“The Festival itself will be held within the confines of the Riviera factory, with a significant part of the rest of our 14-hectare world-class facility included as one of the five key event sites for the Expo, for which there is a $10 nominal entry price and multiple day tickets are available at reduced prices,” said Mr Milne.

“Riviera Festival of Boating visitors will enjoy free VIP parking at the gate and we have arranged multiple-day Expo ticket prices and accommodation packages.

“Full details on event registrations and special Festival offers are available on the Festival website (www.FestivalOfBoating.com).