Technology has been added to the values that make sailing a must in the eyes of many watchmakers and their fans. Be it on single or multi-hulls, in wood or carbon, sail boats exert a degree of fascination that never wanes.
With a Water theme in its collection, it is hardly surprising that Armin Strom is the first brand in our aquatic chronicle to take the plunge. In the wake of its sponsorship of the Swiss Star team selected for the Olympic Games last year, Armin Strom subsequently partnered with the GAC Pindar Sailing Team. Led by a quadruple world champion in match racing, Ian Williams, this British team criss-crosses the world's oceans in a single hull in the context of the Match Racing World Championship, and in a multihull on the Extreme Sailing circuit. Last winter, their skipper visited the company's manufacturing facility in Bienne to discover a 40-piece limited edition, the Armin Manual Water Edition GAC Pindar Sailing Team.
Reinforced by the Offshore collection, the identification of the Royal Oak in the sailing world provides Audemars Piguet with a certain legitimacy that the brand interprets in the feminine mode with Ladycat, the high tech catamaran skippered by the only woman winner in the history of the Bol d'Or – Dona Bertarelli. Dona has three multi-hulls in her stable including the giant trimaran holder of the world sailing record (the famous Jules Verne Trophy). At the beginning of the year, Audemars Piguet launched two Royal Oak Offshore Ladycat limited editions, in steel and white gold. Who will be wearing them on the pontoons of the Société Nautique de Genève?
A nod from the ocean world to the watchmaking world, the Jules Verne Trophy is currently in the possession of Loïck Peyron, longstanding Corum ambassador. Last spring, together they organised the first Copa Club de Yates Corum, bringing 250 participants to the Acapulco Yacht Club. Another outstanding sailing ambassador for Corum is Ben Ainslie who last summer gained the title of the most decorated sailor in the Olympic Games, picking up a new Sailor of the Year title on the way, awarded by the International Sailing Federation. The Englishman and the Frenchman were also both recruited by the challengers of the 34th America's Cup which will take place this autumn in San Francisco. This international renown is publicised locally by Corum through its Lake Geneva partnership with the Okalys-Corum catamaran.
A precursor to the America's Cup, from July 7 onwards, the Louis Vuitton Cup will keep fans holding their breath around Alcatraz all summer. While the Louis Vuitton Cup is celebrating its 30th anniversary, it is the first time that it will include particularly spectacular carbon catamarans with rigid keels. Have you ever seen sailors in helmets? On the AC72 it is compulsory! At the beginning of September, the winner of these jousts will challenge the Defender of the America's Cup, Oracle Team USA. For the first time as well, the famous case of Louis Vuitton's Tambour watch has undergone significant changes, as reflected in the design lines of the new Tambour éVolution on the cover of the GMT edition published for Baselworld.
