In this category, Rolex released its Oyster Perpetual Yacht-Master II this year in Rolesor Everose (a combination of 904L steel and Everose 18-carat gold), which features a countdown with a mechanical memory system. The unique feature of this timepiece is the interaction between movement and the Ring Command rotating bezel, which enables the skipper to programme the duration of the countdown before departure from 1 to 10 minutes. “Once the countdown has begun, the skipper can synchronise the watch’s chronograph as needed, to match the official countdown to the race,” explains the House.
At the end of last year, Louis Vuitton also arrived on the scene with its Tambour Automatic Regatta Navy, for the Louis Vuitton Trophy event in Dubai. This is a Tambour chronograph featuring a LV171 calibre by Dubois Dépraz, offering an original countdown resembling a spinnaker with a flyback function to measure performance.
For the 2011 edition of the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge, Officine Panerai has created the Luminor Submersible 1950 Regatta 3 Days GMT Automatic Titanio 47 mm. As a professional diving watch, it follows in the footsteps of the Radiomir Regatta 1/8th Second Titanio 47 mm, fitted with a split-second and jumping second chronograph with a scale expressed in knots to measure the speed of the vessel. This is probably because the world of sailing “is worth it”.