After a long, hard day of fishing you want to: A) Stretch out on the tanning pad. B) Stretch out in a stateroom that’s equipped with a flat-screen TV. C) Grab a drink from the salon wetbar, which has a U-Line icemaker, a refrigerator, and separate drawers with racks for wine glasses, tumblers, and champagne flutes. Or D) All of the above. If your answer is D, then Riviera has the boat for you.
We love the fluffy stuff in a boat, because it makes it easy to relax. But we also like cool innovations, and the 41 Flybridge has these, too. The first example comes from a place we don’t usually describe as cool — the day head. Usually day heads have a pullout sink that does double-duty as a shower head. And usually, these make for short, clumsy showers. This day head, however, is rigged with a quick-disconnect fixed shower head that moves out of the way when not in use. When you do use it, there’s no swinging hose to hit your head. Now take a look in the guest stateroom. Sure, it has the requisite side-by-side berths. But there’s a third berth running athwartships, which pulls out on tracks inside the bulkhead. Don’t want a third berth here? Great — ditch the mattress and use it as a rodbox perfectly sized for half a dozen big rigs.
Speaking of rods and reels, Rivieras have always been known more for cruisability than fishability, but the company has made a concerted effort to change that. The cockpit of the 41 Flybridge has a pair of fishboxes (which need to have gas-assist struts added to the hatches; as-is, they slam with a bang), a lighted transom livewell, a bait freezer, and a rigging station with a sink and three tackle drawers. When it’s time to maneuver on a fish or around the dock, you’ll discover that this boat spins with the best of ’em, and thanks to the standard electronic SmartCraft system at the helm, you’ll never worry about clunky, failing controls or inaccurate mechanical gauges. And if our test boat’s 36.4-mph top end isn’t fast enough for you, opt for the 600-bhp Cummins ($36,753) powerplants. They’ll cut some travel time from a long day of fishing, which should make relaxing a little easier when it’s time to reach for the champagne flutes, stretch out on the tanning pad, or lie down in the stateroom.
