The design departed from period convention in both its proportions and interior arrangement. The yacht measures 13.11 metres overall, with a 10.06-metre waterline, a beam of 3.28 metres, and a draft of 2.13 metres. Displacement is 13.6 tonnes. Construction is traditional carvel teak planking on hardwood frames, with a teak-laid deck and varnished teak superstructure.
Design and Construction
The Donella Class stands apart from its contemporaries not simply because of its timber construction, but because of the thinking behind its fuller waterlines and slightly higher freeboard than usual. DONELLA’s first owner wanted more berths and a clear below-deck passage from stem to stern, without a central cockpit interrupting the accommodation.
The result is an interior that feels larger than the narrow 10-foot-9 beam might suggest. A deckhouse-open-aft arrangement also keeps the full length of the hull available as living space.
Construction is straightforward carvel teak on hardwood frames. Details include a raw teak caprail, bronze fairleads, and a centreline teak-planked lazarette hatch. They reward the eye, but demand the maintenance discipline required by any cold-moulded or planked wooden hull.
A thorough restoration in 1994–95 addressed the structure. The hull was completely re-caulked, epoxied, and repainted; the deck was re-caulked and Sikaflexed; and the silicon bronze keel bolts were removed and inspected. Further re-caulking and Sikaflex work was carried out in 2020.
Rig and Handling
The Donella was conceived with two alternative rigs: a ketch best described as a motor sailer, and a cutter carrying a large auxiliary engine. The surviving example is cutter-rigged, with a mast carrying four spreaders. Its stainless steel standing rigging was renewed in 1996, when the spruce spars were also rebuilt.
Laurent Giles settled the balance of the sail plan with evident care, something he considered essential for serious sailing. The working rig includes a Harken roller-furling jib on the forestay, a Furlex roller-furling staysail on the inner forestay, and a mainsail with three slab-reefing points. Reefing is handled by a Lewmar winch on the boom.
Four mast-mounted Lewmar wire winches handle the halyards. Two electric-and-manual Antal W 525 ST pedestal winches take the sheet loads, while a Lewmar 44 three-speed winch forward to port controls the mainsheet through a track and blocks aft.
Steering is by wheel, with Mathway Marine cardan transmission to the rudder. An emergency tiller boss is also fitted.
Accommodation
Light was the Donella’s published innovation. Large skylights and port lights brighten the interior, an approach widely covered in the period yachting press as a genuine new direction in pleasure-yacht design. Varnished teak joinery, set against white panels and deckhead, reinforces the effect.
She sleeps six in two cabins and the saloon. The forecabin has Vee single berths and prism deckhead lights. The aft owner’s cabin has a single berth on each side, along with a commode-style Baby Blake and a ceramic basin. In the saloon, two Chesterfield leather settee berths run fore and aft around a hinged, fiddled centreline table.
The galley has a stainless steel double sink, a three-burner gas hob and oven, and a 12-volt fridge-freezer. The head contains a Baby Blake manual WC, a ceramic basin with shower taps, and a teak-grated sole.
A Webasto heater, all-LED lighting, and a pressurised hot and cold water system complete the living systems.
Machinery, Tankage, and Systems
The auxiliary is a Perkins 4.216 engine dating from 1974. It was overhauled between 2003 and 2010, then removed and thoroughly rebuilt in 2020 with new bearings, injectors, heat exchanger, and exhaust.
Tankage was modernised with a 250-litre stainless steel fuel tank in 1995 and 450 litres of stainless steel water tanks in 1998. A new pressurised water system in rigid plastic casing and a heater were installed in 1995.
The navigation and communications equipment has also been extensively updated. It includes radar from 1998, a chart plotter from 2015, an echo sounder from 2019, and an autopilot and DSC VHF from 2020, alongside the original B&G log and wind instruments.
Refits and Ownership
The recorded refit genealogy of the class leader’s sisters is extensive and reassuring. In addition to the structural and systems work already noted, the 1994–95 restoration entirely rebuilt the forecabin peak, head, and galley. It also fitted new doors, replaced the engine-room insulation, and installed new Blakes seacocks.
The cockpit sole was replanked on stainless bolts. The electrical system was completely replaced in 1995, including new wiring and a new panel.
Teak decks and the superstructure require continual varnish care. The finish was renewed in 1997 and has been maintained since.
Known Issues and Maintenance
As a planked wooden yacht built in 1961, the Donella’s known vulnerabilities arise from her construction type rather than from a flawed design. The carvel teak planking on hardwood frames requires periodic re-caulking. The maintenance record shows the deck and hull being re-caulked and Sikaflexed in 1995 and 2020.
The teak decks and varnished superstructure also need continuous upkeep. The Perkins diesel has required two major overhauls during its service life.
A buyer should regard this work not as evidence of defects, but as the normal cyclical care demanded by a wooden Giles yacht.
The Verdict
The Laurent Giles 43 Donella Class is a serious wooden cruiser from the mature hand of Jack Laurent Giles, built by a reputable yard and conceived around liveability below rather than speed alone. Her fuller hull and uninterrupted below-deck passage reflect an owner’s brief for a yacht intended to be lived aboard. The light-filled interior still feels like a deliberate step forward.
She isn’t a low-maintenance boat, but the recorded refit history shows that the type responds well to disciplined, cyclical care.
Pros
- Full-length below-deck accommodation without a central cockpit
- Light-filled interior with large skylights and port lights, an innovation for the period
- Carefully balanced cutter rig with modern roller furling, rebuilt spars, and renewed rigging
- Thoroughly documented structural and systems restoration through the 1990s and 2020
Cons
- Carvel teak planking requires regular re-caulking and epoxy maintenance
- Teak decks and varnished superstructure demand continuous upkeep
- The Perkins diesel has needed two major overhauls in service
