The vessel has been recreated by a group of Czech enthusiasts in a shipyard in Suez, Egypt, which still uses historic and traditional building methods. The pre-planning and research for the project took three years and the actual construction process another two years. The new La Grace will serve a multi-functional international role as a sea cadet training facility and as a tourist attraction worldwide.
A team of enthusiastic individuals from Robe, all with an eye for design and aesthetics - Josef Valchar (MD) Petr Kolmaka (Anolis sales manager), Radim Zlebek (Robe technical support) and Jiri Baros (marketing manager) - travelled to Athens for the occasion, where they were supported on site by Robe's Greek distributor, Philippos Nakas.
"We had many visual elements to consider for the inauguration ceremony lighting scheme," explains Valchar, "The fabulous setting was one, then there was the colour and texture of the sails, the wooden materials making up the boat, her elegant shape and contours, all of which amounted very much to a 'personality'."
Jiri Baros states, "Very much central to our lighting design was the desire to enhance La Grace as she was, retain her natural beauty, and ensure that the lighting was chic, theatrical and dramatic. It could not be overpowering, but at the same time we had to make La Grace even more spectacular for this occasion."
The major part of La Grace's hull and the sails were illuminated by fourRobe CitySkape Xtremes positioned on the quayside. The two masts - made out of trees from the Czech Moravian highlands, the region in which Robe's factory is located, were up-lit by four Robe CitySource 96s.
The decks and four replica cannons were bathed in light from four CitySkape 48s, making a dramatic contrast.
The spanker sail at the back was used as a projection surface, fed with images by a Robe DigitalSpot 7000 DT rigged on a stand on the quayside. This enabled a wide variety of environmental scenes to be created. During the launch ceremony itself, statistics and information about the build process and the methods used were projected onto the sail.
All fixtures were controlled via an Avolites Tiger Touch console.
(Jim Evans)
