Make: 1961 Riva
Model: Ariston
Length: 22′
Engine:  Chris-Craft 8cyl – 185 hp
Hull #: 368
Concours Catagory: Riva & International

Lady Honor was originally purchased in 1961 from the Riva factory in Italy by Lady Honor Dorthy Mary (Guinness) Svejdar of the Guinness Brewing and Baking family and registered to her in Dublin, Ireland.  The boat was to be carried aboard her 170-foot yacht “Cloncilla” so the factory added lifting rings.  Being a tender, she was also left with no name upon her transom.  Some years later, Lady Honor Dorthy Mary Svejdar purchased land in the Caribbean and quit yachting altogether.  Details at this point are vague.  The boat somehow made it to Florida and in the early 1970s she sank and was hauled up from the bottom of a river, her engine and gauges removed, and there she was, set on blocks in the “field of dreams”. 

Lady Honor was first featured on the cover of Antique and Classic Boat Magazine in 1985 as she was rotting away in Florida.  After moving around a bit, she made it to Auburn, CA in 2009 where in 2016 restoration began.  During this time much research was done to realize the boat’s past life.

She has been restored to the highest degree, only the engine differs from the original, although done the same way the Riva factory did just two years later.  Nights, weekends, vacations and holidays were all needed due to the extensive work.  As time went on, homage was paid to her former life and she naturally became Lady Honor.