The ultra-fast GC32 catamarans have attracted a number of watch brands as partners. After HYT, Armin Strom and Raymond Weil, Anonimo takes to the water.
The brand with the Florentine roots has teamed up with the GC32 Racing Tour to organise a competition of pure speed at each round of the championship: the Anonimo Speed Tour Challenge.
A quick reminder
The GC32, or Great Cup 32, is a catamaran that is around 10 metres long and whose design and technology were inspired by the developments at the 34th America’s Cup in 2013. The aim was to have a single-type boat series – in other words an identical yacht for each team – but one which was capable of extreme performance. So far, the fastest recorded speed on one of these boats is 42.7 knots, which is nearly 80 km/h. Several factors help to achieve such speeds : firstly, these yachts, built entirely of carbon fibre, are extremely light – they only weigh 975kg. Secondly, the use of so-called “foils” - a kind of daggerboard in the shape of a J, allow them to sail without the hull being in contact with the water. Above wind speeds of 8 knots, the yacht stabilises itself on three points of contact with the water, the foil on the leeward side and two rudders at the back that are T-shaped. It is the combination of extreme sport and high technology that attracted Anonimo.
The logic behind the Anonimo Speed Tour Challenge is very simple: achieve the highest average speed on a course between two buoys. The winner of the competition gets an Anonimo Nautilo watch.
The course takes just two minutes to complete but requires a lot of concentration and explosive speed from the teams. The competitors cross the starting line while reaching, in other words with the wind behind them at an angle of around 65°, then turn around a buoy, and head back to the start line. The first such race against the clock was one by a watchmaking team. Armin Strom, with the Bernese Flavio Marazzi at the helm, took the first Anonimo Nautilo watch with an average speed of 31.06 knots (57.5 km/h). Believe me, that’s fast. Who said that the watch industry was flagging?
