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Many of the top brands sponsor professional racing teams—Panerai, Ulysse Nardin, Bremont, Zenith and, of course, Rolex among them—seeing it as an opportunity to both show off the robustness and precision of their timepieces, as well as giving them licence to flex their engineering muscles by building in some highly specific and convoluted complications

In fact, there are really two very different genres that fall under the heading of ‘sailing watch’.

The first is strictly for the nautical lifestyle; luxurious cruising, yacht clubs, polished teak and the rest. The most that kind of watch requires is a certain amount of waterproofing and a whole heaping of style.

The other type is an extremely specialised offshoot known as the regatta timer. These, as well as the water resistance and design flair, also include elaborate chronographs and countdown timers designed to aid teams in competitive racing.

How the Big Brands Set Sail

Some manufactures have both kinds covered. Rolex, for instance, have their Yacht-Master duo, the original a more opulent take on the Submariner and perfect for laidback touring around sun drenched isles. The sequel, the Yacht-Master II, is a high-performance machine intended for the down-to-the-wire environment of the professional regatta.

Watches in Sport: Sailing - Sir Ben Ainslie

Yet, just to confuse matters, one of the most talked about sailing chronometers from the crown in recent years was worn by four time Olympic gold medallist, Sir Ben Ainslie in 2020. This was a prototype version of one of the original Yacht-Masters, albeit the newer, 42mm Cerachrom models, devoid of any complications whatsoever. Even the date function was removed. And what made it so special? It was the first and so far only Rolex watch constructed from titanium.

Unlike sister brand Tudor, Rolex has never embraced titanium’s many excellent watch building qualities. Not only is it enormously corrosion resistant and able to withstand extreme temperatures, it is as strong as steel while being around only half the weight. That last may actually be one of the reasons Rolex has always shied away from the metal. For many people, weight conveys luxury, but for Sir Ben’s purposes, every last ounce which can be saved aboard a racing yacht is a bonus. When eagle-eyed pundits spotted Ainslie sporting the unique piece, on a NATO strap with Velcro closing no less, it opened the debate on whether we could expect titanium watches from Rolex in the future. So far, however, nothing.  

The Regatta Timers

To understand just how impressive regatta timers on mechanical watches are, you have to know a little about how a yacht race works.

As opposed to just about any other type of competition you can think of, a regatta timer is there to measure the amount of time until the start of the race, rather than how long it takes the yacht to complete the course.

That’s because here, the participants cannot simply line up waiting for the off but must instead battle against nature the whole time; staying in perpetual motion due to the wind and currents.

So each race begins with a countdown stage, usually between five and 10 minutes, where boats vie for position as close to the start line as they can without crossing over and incurring penalties. The key is to build up as much speed as possible before the start, coordinating the approach to hit the line at the precise moment the race begins. After that, the chronograph takes over. All of that, of course, requires pinpoint timing, giving watch brands with centuries of expertise the opportunity to show off.

The Best From the Best

There are now a host of regatta timers available, from some of the industry’s biggest names.

Watches in Sport: Sailing - Ulysse Nardin

The Le Locle-based manufacture, Ulysse Nardin can claim one of the proudest records among seafarers. Founded in 1846, the brand has been a leader in marine chronometry for the entirety of its history. During that time they have supplied more than 50 of the world’s navies and astronomical observatories with their inventions, and their portfolio today is still heavy with nautically-themed pieces.

Their Marine Regatta Chronograph, only recently discontinued, was a particular standout and winner of the Sports Watch Prize at the GPHG (Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève) in 2017. It was designed with the direct involvement of Loïck Peyron and Iain Percy, two members of the Swedish Artemis Racing Team of which Ulysse is a sponsor. The watch features a flyback chronograph, as do most regatta timers, but also has an ingenious, and unique in this field, ‘set-and-forget’ reversing mechanism. At the end ofthe countdown phase, with the chrono hand running anticlockwise, the gearing instantly reverses its direction once the timer reaches zero, now counting up like a conventional mechanical stopwatch. It means the skipper is free to give their full attention to the race without worrying about adjusting the watch.

Watches in Sport: Sailing - Luminor Regetta Panerai

Panerai is another manufacture with long ties to the sea, although more usually beneath than above. But the Regatta Chrono Flyback from their iconic Luminor collection, while not as technically maverick as the Ulysse model, features a regatta countdown and twin register chronograph, wrapped up in a huge 47mm bombproof case—as you would expect from Panerai—along with that instantly recognisable crown guard.

Watches in Sport: Sailing - Rolex Yacht-Master II

Overall however, it is arguably Rolex which has produced the most striking sailing watch of the last few years. The Yacht-Master II is a triumph of engineering, from a brand which doesn’t usually go in for haute horlogerie complications.

The first in the world to feature a flyback function with mechanical memory, it has the ability to reset its regatta timer to the nearest minute ‘on-the-go’ to synchronize with the official race timer if needed. A truly useful function, housed in a big, brash and decidedly un-Rolex 44mm case, the Yacht-Master II has become a cult hero for the world’s most famous watchmaker.

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