Navigation-inspired timepieces
AS WE SAIL INTO RACING SEASON, some of our favorite watchmakers are rolling out their ocean navigator wrist watches. Whether or not you man the helm-or even plan to step aboard-these exquisite pieces will make you look and feel like a captain of style.
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- As its name suggests, the PANERAI LUMINOR SUBMERSIBLE 1950 3 DAYS AUTOMATIC features a power reserve of three days. Its brushed titanium case measures 47mm; and with a Panerai personalized rubber strap and water resistance to 300m, you can definitely dive in. $10,300
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- The ROLEX YACHTMASTER is the timepiece that seems to have put this style on the map. The latest incarnation features a new rotatable bezel, a 40mm Oyster case and a calibre 3135 certified Swiss Chronometer.
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- Rugged but elegant, the DOXA SUB 5000T SEACONQUEROR is crafted from a single piece of stainless steel and is water resistant to a depth of 5,000 feet.
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- TISSOT’S SAILING-TOUCH WHITE QUARTZ SPORTS WATCH ($1,250) which features Tissot’s touch-screen technology and all the details you’d need for smooth and safe sailing designed in maritime color themes.
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- Or, there’s the feminine charm of the T-TOUCH II LADIES WHITE MOTHER-OF-PEARL DIAMONDS QUARTZ WATCH ($1,495). It also features touch-activated functionality along with bracelet choices including titanium, leather or white silicone.
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- PANERAI’S LUMINOR MARINA 44MM features a power reserve of 56 hours, Incabloc® anti-shock device, a leather or alligator strap with Panerai personalized buckle and a AISI 316L polished steel or brushed titanium case. $6,200
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- The new limited edition TISSOT SEASTAR 1000 AUTOMATIC fulfills all ISO 6425 stipulated criteria for divers’ watches. It has a domed, scratch-resistant sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating. It’s also equipped with an automatic helium escape valve, unidirectional divers bezel, divers’ buckle and to a pressure of 30 bar (30m). $2,250
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- The ROBUSTO CHRONOGRAPH BY CUERVO Y SOBRINOS features a useful countdown function for racing, a 40-hour reserve and modular steel case with titanium bezel. $6,200
Time for a Sail?
Racing around the isles
The worlds of yachting and timepieces have been merged since, well, the dawn of watch-making. Navigators of the sea have always counted on precise marine chronometers to hold a steady course… the alternative to which may have led to a watery fate.
Today, sailors may be less interested in discovering unseen land as they are racing against the clock. One such example is the 2012 Vic-Maui International Yacht Race, which pits 14 yacht teams against one another on an epic 2,308-nautical-mile course. Beginning in the lush climes of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, and ending in Maui’s Lahaina Harbor, yachtsmen will steer their 35- to 50-foot vessels through the treacherous Straights of Juan de Fuca, down past Washington and Oregon states before catching the Pacific high pressure zone somewhere around Northern California then charting out to sea.
The biennial event runs every other year, having started in 1965 when race founder Jim Innes took 15 days make the journey; in 1968, 14 entries competed before a winner entered Lahaina in nine days, two hours and eight minutes.
A second isle favorite is the Sir Thomas Lipton Challenge, which essentially is a Hawai’i-wide race that pits local yachting clubs against each other in a friendly three-day showdown to see who can rack the best times in a best-of-five shootout.
The race first began in 1930 with the namesake’s first bout in Hawaiian waters; currently a single 30-foot (or more) boat from each club is allowed to enter the race that traces a triangle just a few miles offshore. This year’s winner was Capt. Tony Miller from the Hawaii Yacht Club in his Ikaika vessel.
-By Brian Berusch