It must have happened on one of the trips to Italy that he took with his parents as a child. Back then, he travelled south in a VW Beetle. Or perhaps it happened later, when he travelled to the Italian Riviera in a camper van. The fact is that the Kiel-based management consultant and amateur pilot Klaus Hunfeld fell in love with the 6.80 metre long wooden boat Riva Ariston.
The perfection of a Riva is obvious even to the layman: in classic models, the hull is made of fine wood with seamless, deep red mahogany panelling. A powerful inboard engine with a deep sound drives the boats. Shiny chrome parts, a panoramic windscreen, the clearly laid out instrument panel and the slim, tapered stern make them design icons.
Klaus Hunfeld, who was still living in Elmshorn at the time, had also fallen for this charm.
There is no other way to explain why he decided to build his own Riva at the age of 49.
A look back: As a teenager, Klaus Hunfeld was a passionate model maker. At the age of eleven, he was already cutting his own parts to make aeroplanes and boats. And even then he had the dream of building something big. In theory, he says, you can build anything as long as you have the right plans. And they are available, freely accessible on the Internet...
The construction plan was published by the Riva shipyard on a scale of 1:10 for the modelling scene.
He has always been fascinated by shipbuilding: he wrote his dissertation during his business studies at the Meyer shipyard in Papenburg. The topic: "Planning of complex production processes".
"Building a boat is not rocket science, I thought to myself; you just have to be able to read plans and realise them. And above all, you just have to start instead of talking."
The Riva has always been a status symbol for those who have made it. Gunter Sachs relied on the mahogany boat just as much as Sophia Loren or Brigitte Bardot - she owned three. The international jet set had themselves photographed on Riva boats, especially in the sixties and seventies.
Even back then, they were unaffordable for the average consumer: in 1966, a Mercedes 250 SE Coupé cost DM 22,000, while in 1968 you had to spend DM 35,000 for a Riva Ariston. Everyone knew about Klaus Hunfeld's quirk. Even his wife, who gave him a scale model of the Riva Ariston for his 50th birthday.
As a father of three, it was not an option for Klaus to simply buy a genuine Riva
just like that. The prices on the second-hand market are high; only around 4,000 of his dream boat were built, and it is estimated that only half of these still exist.
It was only when the family moved from Elmshorn to Kiel in 2004 that Klaus Hunfeld made the decision: "It was certainly the proximity to the water that made me decide to build my own Riva." Curiously, he was more of a landlubber; sailing made him sick and he didn't have a motorboat licence at the time.
Nevertheless, he had succumbed to the fascination of this boat, whose designers were never concerned with practicality, but always with maximising its impact.
Without his then 73-year-old neighbour Günter Schunke, he would not have dared to tackle the project. The resourceful retired electrical engineer acted as an all-purpose boat-building weapon. The moment when Klaus Hunfeld first told him about his crazy project in 2007 and asked him if he wanted to join in is unforgettable.
Günter took an hour to think about it, returned with a folding rule in his hand and asked: "Where?"
The question was justified, because if you want to build a boat, you need space. So the first thing the men built in July 2007 was a small boatyard in their garden at home.
Just big enough to move around in, store timber in a dry place and stockpile tools. It all began with the keel line, just over seven metres long, which the two drew on the shipyard floor. Bending the 50 by 70 millimetre thick Sipo mahogany beams was a particular challenge for the boatbuilders.
a challenge for the boat builders.
Against all odds, the project gathered pace: In mid-2010, the two began planking the bottom. The underwater hull was finished by Easter 2012. Once again, the boat had to be turned round in the small shipyard. This was no easy task, as the Riva already weighed around 700 kilograms at the time.
"My friends didn't believe I could pull it off at first, but you have to finish what you start." Klaus Hunfeld has never forgotten this sentence from his father. And he will have muttered it to himself many times during the eight years of construction that followed his decision.
However, the work did him good. She had never seen him as happy as when he was working on the boat, his wife later said, who was the cornerstone of the catering with her countless halves of bread rolls and supported the adventure from the very beginning.
And it was an adventure: just the way they got to the centrepiece, the engine, was strange. It was Günter who knew someone who had two boat engines from the German army lying around. "We went there and bought the two BMWs. Six cylinders in a row with 180 hp. The price was so good that we took them both straight away."
But a Riva needs a V8 with real "oomph" - horsepower, displacement and sound have to be right. And displacement can only be replaced with displacement. "So we drove to Lake Constance and swapped both engines for a completely overhauled 5.7-litre Mercruiser V8 engine with 245 hp and 'zero hours'. It even had dual-circuit cooling for driving in salt water."
The longer they work on the boat, the more impressed Klaus Hunfeld is with his neighbour Günter's skills. "The man has such in-depth expertise in everything to do with metal and electrics. When I wanted to go to the DIY store to get metal bolts, Günter told me not to and turned them himself. I, on the other hand, am more of a woodworker. So we complemented each other. Above all, Günter is a gifted teacher; I've learnt an incredible amount over the years."
Klaus Hunfeld has spent many holidays on Lake Como in his life. Each time, a trip to the Riva shipyard in Sarnico, 80 kilometres away, was on the agenda. Here, on the shores of Lake Iseo near Bergamo, they deal exclusively with the preservation of Riva boats, and at first his idea was ridiculed.
Some people had already toyed with the idea of building a Riva, but no one had really managed it yet ... It took a while for them to realise that the tall North German with the excellent English was serious about his Ariston.
The legendary Riva parts dealer Giovanni Morosini in Sarnico became a friend of Klaus over the course of the construction period. Not only does he get his original Ariston parts here, he can also talk shop, ask questions and do research. He can use real Rivas to check whether he has built everything correctly at home in Kiel.
Anselmo Vigani, the current head of the company and nephew of the legendary designer Carlo Riva, also helped Klaus Hunfeld
with the procurement of his materials. For fans of Italian wooden boats from all over the world, the dealer offers a treasure trove of components. There are at least a hundred Rivas in permanent storage or
for restoration.
Klaus obtains almost all the original parts from "Accessori Nautici Morosini". "Only with both hands in his trouser pockets" he is allowed to walk through the warehouse. Devout, enthusiastic, happy.
The seating, for example, was a particular challenge. The difficulty was to build the seats with their numerous details and spring mechanism in such a way that a Riva factory upholsterer could later cover them. For Klaus, the upholstery naturally had to be made at Riva in Sarnico. In his opinion, only here is there an upholsterer who can do it the way Carlo Riva once imagined it.
Initially, his sons helped him, but the thrill of working on dad's dream boat soon wore off. The family's nerves were not spared when the hard-working gentlemen were unable to work in their boatyard during the cold winter of 2012/13 and therefore had to glue and paint the seating furniture in the living room.
Klaus Hunfeld regularly receives small parcels containing components from Sarnico. For the management consultant, it feels like Christmas every time he unpacks the original parts wrapped in Italian newspaper.
No two Riva boats are the same. Each boat has its own unique dimensions. If you want to order a spare part from Riva, you have to provide exact measurements. "Rivas are an experience for the eye. Small plastic boats bob through the waves, but this long boat glides over the water. And when you put your hand on it, it's warm because it's made of wood. I love that."
The assembly of the engine block in spring 2013 turned into a nail-biter. "First of all, getting the part to the shipyard. That alone was an insane effort. It took long ropes, helping hands and a pulley block. Manoeuvring almost half a tonne of weight into the shipyard on a dubious wheeled frame on difficult terrain wasn't work, it was a struggle. I will never forget that."
Installing the engine was once again much more complex than expected and the tension was at its peak. "We did a lot of maths, drawing and guessing beforehand: Will the engine even fit through the hatch, or will it be a disaster and stick out the top? Is it 18 degrees engine tilt or just 15 degrees? The plan is not always consistent."
The engine block finally fitted into the boat without an inch of air, but only because the men had dismantled the carburettor and removed the hoses for the dual-circuit cooling system so that the crossbeam of the chain hoist could be attached as close to the engine as possible. With the installation of the stainless steel manifold, the "engine" chapter was completed at the end of 2013.
In his private life, the years were turbulent for Klaus Hunfeld. In the last year of the eight-year construction phase, his marriage broke up. He had been in a relationship with his wife since they were teenagers. They had raised their three sons with love, but had grown apart. The time had now come for a new beginning. Klaus Hunfeld is exhausted and just wants to be done.
In the summer of 2015, the time has finally come: the Riva Ariston, which he has christened "Giulia", can leave the shipyard. The men hoist her onto a platform trailer using two chain hoists. Another adventurous operation, as the boat is actually far too big to be transported through the small garden. Every time Klaus was asked how he was going to get the finished boat out of the boatyard, he replied: "Somehow."
And somehow it worked out. The day of the launch, the first trip on the Baltic Sea, is a highly emotional moment. Unforgettably beautiful, all the exertion blown away. As befits an Italian diva, the Riva is a moody boat.
It is not easy to sail and is heavily dependent on the wind and waves. A sensitive boat that takes time to learn. Mooring and casting off manoeuvres still cause beads of sweat on the forehead of ambitious boat builders without sailing experience.
The calmer the Baltic Sea, the better his "Giulia" glides. However, the boat is only made for salt water and swell to a limited extent. Schleswig-Holstein is not Italy. When Klaus Hunfeld accelerates, he has to drive standing up, otherwise he can no longer see anything. With the Riva at sea, the likelihood of getting back to shore with dry feet is rather low.
He is once approached by a man at the marina who looks at his "Giulia" disparagingly. "Who restored that? How can you give such a beautiful boat such a lousy paint job?" Klaus is amused. The man is right, he must have thought, after all he is not happy with the paintwork himself. But the expert didn't realise that it was a complete replica.
Klaus Hunfeld was often asked whether it was even legal to copy a boat. "I did my research beforehand: it's legal as long as I don't sell my boat as an original Riva or even go into series production." Build another boat? Out of the question. Today, he marvels when he thinks back over the past few years. "I wasn't interested in showing the world that you can recreate a legend. For me, the work should be seen as a tribute to the Riva shipyard. In my eyes, she is the most beautiful boat in the world. By recreating her, I now understand her. Riva has always supported me, I think they saw it as an honour that someone finds this Italian design so beautiful that they have been tinkering with it for years."
Klaus Hunfeld doesn't like to think about how much his "Giulia" ultimately cost him. Although he only spent around 7,000 euros on all the wood for the boat, the labour costs are considerable: according to Carlo Riva, it took around 7,500 hours to build an original Riva. Klaus and Günter spent 8,000 hours rebuilding the boat together in their garden shipyard - a total of around 16,000 hours.
"If I had known beforehand how much work we would have to do, I wouldn't have started building it. On the other hand, if Marco Polo had known beforehand how arduous his journeys would be, he certainly wouldn't have set sail."
Klaus Hunfeld does not know whether Carlo Riva, who turned 94 in February, has heard of his replica. One day, he would like to lash his Riva onto the trailer and travel to Italy. "Giulia" is to sail on the waters for which it was built.
"We Germans love ourselves for what we can do, the Italians love themselves for what they can't - that's why I'm such a friend of the Italian way of life." And he adds with a laugh: "One day I'd like to moor my Riva in the Villa d'Este harbour on Lake Como and drink coffee. It may cost 13 euros a cup, but I won't give a damn."
For the time being, the Bay of Kiel is the area of choice for Klaus and his "Giulia". He often drives down to the marina after work just to see if she is still there, his handmade Riva Ariston.
