Jack Laurent Giles designed Droleen II in 1939 as the fourth yacht in his Brittany Class, of which were built 20, the first being Bettine. As a class the Brittanies are not only outstandingly elegant, sleek and beautiful on the water, but also wonderfully seaworthy and designed for safe and adventurous voyages. Droleen's bow is striking in its high and purposeful character charging through the waves, with her bulwarks nearly 10in high at her bow tapering to a low stern is a key and recognisable feature of the Brittany class. This together with her fine entry and long keel gives her a soft motion, make foredeck work drier and safer and enables her to hold her course well under sail.

Droleen has been in the ownership of Timothy Bennett since December 1996 when he purchased her in need of much attention. After sailing her for a season in order to ensure she was the yacht for him, Tim, together with the care, time and skill of shipwright Mark Welch of Lowestoft, undertook her restoration. Repairing, restoring and refitting a wooden yacht is an intrinsic part of owning and adoring a classic. Styles of restoration are varied - from a complete overhaul, where all scars of adventure and traces of time are replaced to produce as near as possible an 'original' authentic condition; or perhaps a modernisation incorporating recent technologies to improve a yacht's comfort and performance; or, as is the case of many wooden yachts, a restoration which rescues a classic to an attractive and sea worthy state. Mr Bennett has achieved this with Droleen, capturing and preserving her individuality as a well-travelled 64-year-old lady but with a rejuvenating face-lift!
The restoration project Tim managed was designed to be a system that could be used as an alternative to either doing it all oneself or handing one's boat over to a professional yard, a good compromise - both quicker than the former and less expensive than the latter. A stable yard at Tim's home in Old Burghelere, Hampshire, is where he and Mark Welch worked on the restoration of Droleen and, although the project was structured to a strict time scale in order to estimate costs and hours of work, an estimated 9 months for completion was slightly over ambitious, the actual time taken running to 18 months!

With Tim managing and controlling the project, obtaining quotations, ordering materials, and finding various different sources of part time labour, including school leavers and firemen to help out, most of the skilled work was completed by Mark who became like a member of the family! It took a week to remove deck, cockpit and mast fittings and replace them once restored, the bulwarks and cabin front needed replacing as well as various trims. Once the boat had been stripped, the hull's skin fittings, 18 frames and ribs, and the curved double planked transom were repaired, rebuilt and replaced - much of the original timber that was damaged by rot or wear were treated or cut out.

Two new stainless steel water tanks were made and fitted under each berth, locker doors louvered to encourage ventilation, an inherited 30hp Perkins Prama engine installed in an insulated and generous sized compartment, and the old canvas deck covering replanked. On deck everything was painted with Coelan, a breathable and UV resistant covering, from the outside of the bulwark boards. Tim swears Coelan, a pure polyurethane developed in Germany, to be a remarkable varnish despite the disadvantages of it being expensive and without the immaculate finish of traditional varnish. A durable and low maintenance nature are the primary advantages, with Droleen's varnish showing no signs of deterioration with three years worth of wear.

On 14th September 1999 Droleen was returned to the water. Tim's restoration seemed to embody Laurent Giles's principals - a successful outcome for the aims and objectives of this carefully organised project. Nothing was replaced unless it was absolutely necessary, blemishes and imperfections endured through her lifetime are part of her endearing, capable character and it is these idiosyncrasies that Tim adores about Droleen II.