This year, Riva is holding its first-ever worldwide launch in Asia — rather than Europe or the States — by introducing the stunning Riva 100 Corsaro in Hong Kong.

Edwin Ho is a nephew of Macau casino mogul Stanley, ran Paris interests and lived in the South of France before his Starship Yachts became one of Asia’s best-known boat dealers.

It all happened in a flash. After Paris, and living in the South of France for several years, where I became familiar with the yachting scene and ran a restaurant in a prestigious marina, my family called me back to Macau.

How frustrating. Having been abroad for much of my life, I was not prepared to adjust to the submissive attitude that is expected when you are part of a powerful patriarchal clan, so I decided to try to make it on my own.

At the time, in the early 90s, not many yacht brands were represented in Hong Kong and I thought that there was a gap to fill. I wanted to show more diversity in models, brand names and styles. In other words, to offer choices. So I set out on this mission, and have never looked back since.

The shipyard I started with, Italversil, is not well known and the people in Hong Kong in those days only looked for what they knew, read Azimut. It did not deter me.

I decided to work on creating a tight network of personal relationships with people in the industry in Italy, which is by far the world’s biggest boat builder. So, here I was, embarking on countless trips, back and forth from Hong Kong and Macau to all corners of the Italian peninsula.

The journey was tough, full of ups and downs, and many times I almost threw in the towel: no prospects, no clients, not a remote sense that this business was going anywhere.

I was also a victim of bad timing. For instance, I became the Sunseeker dealer in the late 90s after selling a big boat to a Macau tycoon but unfortunately the brand had no value or recognition back then.

People in Hong Kong were still sticking to what they saw tangibly in front of them, and to what their friends had. Copy-cat attitudes ruled the roost. You have an Azimut? That must be good, so I will get one too. I introduced many brands to Asia, but was way ahead of the times. The momentum just wasn’t there.

I brought in the first Apreamare, the Napolitan gozzo-style yacht, and sold the first Italian yacht into China, a Dominator 780 to a Dalian buyer. Also the first Ferretti Group yachts, which were a Ferretti 57 into Hong Kong, and a Pershing 45 into China.

The list goes on. As Elizabeth Blackwell famously said: “It’s not easy being a pioneer, but I would not trade a moment – even the worst moment – for all the riches in the world”.

In hindsight, my break came in the early 2000s when the market evolved, and clients who travelled and started becoming more aware that other possible choices existed out there.

I secured some pretty solid dealerships and good shipyards such as Ferretti, who were partners until the 2003 break-up, and Cranchi and Baia. My business model then changed, and I secured the best brand for each category of yacht.

For instance, Baia for fast and big offshore vessels, Cranchi as best value for mid-size cruisers, ISA for large fully custom built yachts etc.

In this way, I built up a spectrum of yacht models in each specialized category. By thus segmenting my products, and being able to offer many different kinds of yachts, my client base grew, and business improved.

Now I cemented Italian personal contacts, and became reasonably well-known within the industry. About four years ago, enjoying all the glamour and glitz at the Cannes Boating Festival, unexpectedly Ferretti came knocking on my door.

Surprise, surprise. They wanted to rekindle the flame. After some thought, I decided to jump on the bandwagon, and fast forward, here we are in 2017.

I have had another good run with Ferretti, and the latest example of this is the sale the first Riva 100 in the world, named Corsaro. The owner wants to remain anonymous, so let’s just say that the Riva 100 is a trophy in his collection, and certainly the icing on my cake.

From: Yacht Style #38.

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