STATE OF GRACE
After a lifetime of sailing and refining his ideas, the owner of Grace III knew roughly what he wanted for his next yacht - and absolutely that it had to be drawn by Dutch naval architect Andre Hoek. “The owner of Grace III came to visit our studio in Edam and we began discussing a custom project of about 110ft, ” says the naval architect and founder of Hoek Design Naval Architects. “He was drawn to the lines of the J Class and the traditional deckhouses of our Truly Classic series. He wanted a boat with a classic look, but one that would sail like a modem performance cruiser. It would be mostly for family cruising but capable of performance for a Superyacht Cup or a Bucket.”
However, after he had been pining for a large boat for a long time, the time it would take for engineering, designing and waiting for bids on a custom yacht seemed almost too much to bear. Sensing his concern, Hoek suggested to the client that he might like to consider his 129ft Truly Classic 128. As two were already sailing and the complete design and engineering documentation existed. Better still, Dutch aluminum hull builder Bloemsma had an immediate opening for a new project. As it had welded the hulls for the first two 128s, they could start on it while Hoek worked out interior and deck specifics for It was an easy choice.
