Laurent Giles 43 ft Donella Class Bermudan Cutter 1961

Jack Laurent Giles developed a special niche through the 1950s and 1960s in the design of great-looking performance motor-sailers that utilised the maximum internal space from a yacht’s hull without loss of sailing ability. His 43 ft Donella Class proved one of the most popular types: at least 16 were launched, with the 8th Donella, MICIA, built of teak to a very high standard by Moody’s of Swanwick Shore on the River Hamble for an Italian nobleman. Mid-1990s restoration and a subsequent stringent maintenance regime and major 2020 refit in the still current ownership of a Venice boatyard and marina owner has ensured that MICIA has been kept to the manner born: wonderfully in period, yet no anachronism. And that Venice marina berth might be available too.

RECENT
- Silicon bronze keel bolts removed and inspected
- Hull completely re-caulked, epoxied and then repainted
- Cockpit sole fitted with new planking and stainless steel bolts
- Superstructure newly varnished in 1997, the upkeep of which has been continuous since
- Deck re-caulked and Sikaflexed in 1995 and 2020
- Electric system completely replaced in 1995, including all wiring and the control panel
- New pressurised water system in rigid plastic casing and new heater installed 1995
- Fore cabin peak, head compartment and galley totally rebuilt
- New doors fitted
- Engine room compartment insulation replaced
- Engine removed and thoroughly overhauled 2020
- Including new bearings; injectors; heat exchanger; exhaust
- Blakes seacocks fitted new

FORMER
- Restoration 1994 -95

LAURENT GILES & PARTNERS Design No. 400
A.H. MOODY & SON LTD Build No. 412

MICIA was built for Italian nobleman Conte Dott. Raimondo Visconti di Modrone who may have remained beneficial owner during the period 1964-1969 when MICIA was entity owned and berthed at Livorno. After 1969 she disappeared from Lloyd's Register of Yachts, though may still have been owned by Modrone. From 1979 MICIA reappeared in the UK ownership (though most probably purchased in the Mediterranean) of Royal Air Force Yacht Club and Royal Cruising Club blue water cruisers Arthur and Delia Blackburn who completed an Atlantic circuit taking in the Caribbean and Canada before extensive Eastern Mediterranean cruising into the early 1990s. In 1992 MICIA returned to Italian ownership in the Adriatic with Sergio Cravedi, and was purchased by her present owner in 1993.

Laurent Giles, "Jack" to his friends, was unique in the history of yachting - an Englishman and without contradiction, as revolutionary as only those who are part of a "conservative" culture know how to be ....... so par excellence an innovator. Some of his technical solutions were pure genius and he is also unique for the modern spirit that saw yachting immerse itself in a new era for both the serial and personal production of boats.

One of the Laurent Giles’ specialities was in the design of the motor sailor, the DONELLA class however was conceived with 2 different rigs; one a ketch, best described as the motor sailer, the other a cutter with a large auxiliary engine, defined by him as a yacht in the purest sense and MICIA is one of these.

The waterlines are fuller and the freeboard slightly higher than usual. This feature is attributable to DONELLA the class leader’s first owner, who wanted more berths and the opportunity to go below deck from the stem to stern without a central cockpit forcing him to pass over the bridge of the boat. Another feature of the class is the lightness of the interior, thanks to large skylights and port lights. This was an innovation emphasised and well published in many magazines of the period to mark a real new direction in the design of yachts for pleasure. A final and significant element of these yachts was the care with which Laurent Giles settled the balance of the sail plan, which he considered so essential for serious sailing.

- Carvel teak planking on hardwood frames
- Teak laid deck
- Varnished teak superstructure

- Raw teak caprail
- Bronze fairleads at each quarter on cap rail
- Chromed quarter pushpits
- Stainless steel guardrails running through stanchions each side up to pulpit
- Bronze mushroom vent and ensign socket
- Teak planked lazarette hatch on centreline
- Varnished teak bronze hinged lazarette hatch
- Teak and bronze mooring cleats each side
- Emergency tiller boss
- Stainless steel cased sheave to stbd
- chromed bronze mainsheet horse
- Stowage locker abaft main aft cabin superstructure
- Aft cabin superstructure canvas coach roof, port lights set in roof and to sides
- Bronze eyelets for main sheet tackle on roof each side
- Raw teak hand rails to coach roof sides
- Main sheet track and blocks aft
- Boom with MICIA 1961 end plate
- Varnished hatch on roof
- Chromed pipe and teak boom crutch
- Dorade vent fwd each side
- Lewmar 44 three speed mainsheet winch fwd to port
- Cockpit with high coamings lead forward to deckhouse open aft
- Helm wheel
- Mathway Marine cardan transmission to rudder
- Compass binnacle on centreline
- Raw teak bench seating each side
- 2 x Electric + manual Antal W 525 ST sheet winches on pedestals to sides
- Instruments – engine and navigation fwd
- Opening hatch and bronze hinged and vented double doors to companionway
- Windows to sides and screen fwd
- Trunk cabin fwd
- Mast with 4 spreaders
- 4 x Lewmar stainless steel wire mast mounted halyard winches
- 1 x Lewmar reefing winch on boom
- Stainless tubular safety brackets each side
- 2 x Dorade vents
- Navigation lights to the sides
- 4 x Prism lights in coach roof
- varnished opening hatch on centreline
- Raw teak hand rails on roof each side
- Opening hatch in coach roof
- Opening forehatch
- Twin drum anchor windlass on foredeck
- Teak and bronze mooring cleats to sides
- Inner forestay with Furlex roller reefer
- Tubular steel pulpit
- Bronze mushroom vent
- Bronze Sampson post
- Bronze fairleads on caprail each side
- Forestay to Harken roller

GROUND TACKLE
- Delta anchor 60 lbs / 27 kg
- CQR anchor 45 lbs / 20 kg
- Fisherman anchor
- Danforth anchor

GENERAL
- Accommodation is for 6 in 2 cabins and the saloon
- Elegant varnished teak joinery contrasting with white panels and deck head for optimum light
- Access from deck house doorway forward on centreline and companionway steps down

GALLEY TO PORT
- Corridor to aft cabin
- Stainless steel double sink, mixer tap
- Lockers outboard and under
- Drawer under
- Teckimpex INOX 2002 3 burner gas hob and oven
- Fridge / freezer stainless steel with 12 V compressor
- Opening ports and vent over
- Deckhead lighting

ENGINE ROOM STBD

HEAD COMPARTMENT STBD
- Baby Blake manual WC
- Ceramic wash basin with hot and cold – and shower taps
- Teak grated sole
- Lockers outboard above and below
- Opening port over and outboard
- Handrails
- Deck head light

SALOON FORWARD
- Half bulkheads from aft accommodation and services
- Companionway steps down fwd of engine room by mast
- 2 x Chesterfield leather upholstered settee berths; wrap round fore and aft
- Lockers fwd to port; nav station and ships panel
- Chest of drawers to stbd fwd
- Hinged and fiddled table top on pedestals on centreline
- Shelves above and outboard
- Port lights above in trunk cabin elevations
- Deckhead and bulkhead lights and ports
- Opening hatch in deckhead
- Clock and barometer
- Stereo radio and CD player
- Webasto heater

FORECABIN
- Accessed by doorway on centreline
- Vee single berths, varnished slatting to sides
- Stowage under
- Shelving above
- Opening hatch in deckhead
- Prism lights in deckhead each side
- Chain locker fwd

Coming aft through the saloon past the galley and engine room

OWNERS CABIN AFT
- 2 x Single berths; one each side; shelves and lockers outboard, lockers under
- Fitted chest of drawers / dressing table on centreline aft, locker abaft and mirror above
- Opening port lights in coach roof each side
- Opening hatch in deck head
- Cooling fan mounted on deck head
- Commode style joinery Baby Blake WC and ceramic wash basin
- Steps up to deck house

RIG
- Cutter rigged
- Stainless steel standing rigging (1996)
- Spruce spars rebuilt (1996)
- Mainsail, 3 x slab reefing
- Harken roller furling jib
- Furlex roller furling staysail

SAILS
- 2 x Mainsails in white Dacron by Hood and Parovel
- 2 x Jibs in white Dacron by Hood and Parovel
- 2 x Staysails on white Dacron by Hood and Parovel
- 1 x Genoa in white Dacron
- 1 x Stormsail in Dacron

MECHANICAL
- Perkins 4.216 75 hp diesel (1974)
- Removed and thoroughly overhauled 2020
- Including new bearings; injectors; heat exchanger; exhaust
- Overhauled 2003-2010
- Borg Warner Velvet Drive 2:1 gearbox
- MaxProp 3-bladed propeller + 2-bladed fixed propeller spare
- Pressurised hot and cold water.

ELECTRICAL
- 5 x 12 V 100 Ah Service batteries
- 1 x 12 V 100 Ah engine start battery
- Mastervolt new 110 A power alternator
- Mastervolt charger & inverter
- All LED lights

TANKAGE
- 250 L fuel in stainless steel tank (1995)
- 450 L fresh water in stainless steel tanks (1998)
- Holding tank, with electric and manual pump for discharge

- Raytheon Pathfinder 24 mg radar (1998)
- Raymarine autopilot (2020)
- Navionics and GPS chart plotter (2015)
- AIS
- Sestrel compass
- Raymarine echo sounder (2019)
- B & G log, speed, distance
- B&G wind direction & speed
- Icom DSC VHF (2020)
- Navigation lights

- Rib 3.5 m rigid bottom tender with 15 hp Yamaha outboard
- 2 x Lifebuoys
- Radar reflector
- Flares
- 3 x Manual fire extinguishers
- 1 x Engine driven bilge pump
- 1 x 12 V electric bilge pump
- 2 x Manual Jabsco bilge pumps
- Fire extinguishers

- Non sailing photos: James Robinson Taylor