The designer of the 13.75-metre Carola was J. Laurent Giles, who since 1929 had been designing all kinds of boats in Lymington, England, where his design office was located. Early November 1958, Giles visited the shipyard with the client and soon after signed an order for a sailing yacht. After her launch and sea trials in 1960, Carola was delivered to her owner who sailed her to the home port of Rotterdam. According to the Lloyd's Registers, in 1972 the sailing yacht was registered in England, under the name Carola of Lymington.