Behind every Riviera is a team of master craftspeople. One of them has recently been recognised as the best young talent in the country, and her story runs three generations deep.

Every Riviera is the result of hundreds of skilled hands working with care and dedication at the company’s Queensland facility, and you feel every bit of that effort the moment you step aboard. We think it’s worth knowing the people behind the boats, and few stories capture the Riviera spirit better than Laura Hillman’s.

In 2026, Laura was named Australian Marine Industry Apprentice of the Year at the national AIMEX awards, having represented Queensland as a state finalist alongside apprentices from Austal and Birdon Group. The judges pointed to her rapid progression from a 17-year-old apprentice, her technical development, and a genuine passion for the marine sector. As part of the honour, she’s set to travel to Metstrade in Amsterdam, the world’s largest marine equipment trade show.

For Laura, the marine industry isn’t a job she fell into, it’s family. Her grandparents, Lloyd and Liz Hillman, have been Riviera owners for almost 40 years, owning more than ten different models over that time. Laura grew up aboard them, and says she can’t remember a time she wasn’t on a Riviera. What hooked her was the engine room. As a kid she’d peer down into it, fascinated by how everything worked. It was a curiosity that has become a career. 

After a two-week work experience placement at Riviera, she decided that she absolutely loved the team’s welcoming and inclusive culture so much that she wanted to return. Laura signed up to complete a Certificate II in Engineering as a prerequisite for her trade and later taking on a school-based apprenticeship one day a week. Finally at age 16, she joined a full-time four-year apprenticeship as an Engineering – Fixed & Mobile Plant mechanic.

She’s not the only Hillman on the factory floor: her sister Claudia is an apprentice in Riviera’s upholstery department. Two sisters, handcrafting the same yachts their family have cruised for four decades.

Why this matters to our owners: When you join a Boating Partnerships syndicate, you’re not buying into a faceless asset. You’re sharing in a Riviera, built in Australia, by people like Laura, who take genuine pride in every vessel that leaves the factory. That craftsmanship is the foundation everything else rests on.