Picture yourself on a boat, 30 knots on the surface of the sea, the wind in your hair, and splashing waves hitting your face. You hear the siren sounding to start the regatta and operate the countdown on your Skipper.
These are decisive minutes that accompany the start of every sailing competition; it is indeed up to the crew’s skill to calculate each course exactly to cross the starting line at the right time.
This is because, unlike other races from which you all start together, you are always and constantly in motion during a sailing competition, so it does not allow for a traditional start.
The boats all position themselves before the buoys that demarcate the starting line and begin to get acquainted with the wind until they hear the race director sound the sirens. Ideally, the goal is to take the best pace and pass that line as soon as possible after the countdown ends.
The history of the sailor’s watch
There are different regatta watches, which interpret in their own way the way to calculate the time before the start. There are 30-minute counters, and 15-minute counters, with odd shapes or complex layouts. TAG Heuer’s Skipper is one of the most immediate and easy to read.
The history of this model begins in 1968, following Intrepid’s victory in the 1967 America’s Cup. However, to better understand the watch, we must go back 20 years earlier. At that time, Abercrombie & Fitch was the leading seller of high-end clothing for sports such as polo, tennis, golf, and sailing.
Among Jack Heuer, Abercrombie and the America’s Cup
The brand commissioned several wristwatches from Heuer to sell in its New York outlets, which started a collaboration that lasted several decades. Speaking of technical watches, because at that time watches were mainly for practical purposes, the Solunar, which enabled the calculation of tides, then the Seafarer and Mareographe chronographs were born in always in those years.
Twenty years into the partnership, Jack Heuer had increasingly tightened relations with Abercrombie’s retail president, Walter Haynes, which enabled the landing as the official watch of Intrepid, the 12-meter America’s Cup category boat.
For the 1967 race, Heuer supplied several racing chronographs and gave the crew Aquastar wristwatches. These watches helped Intrepid cross the finish line in the lead.
To celebrate this victory, Heuer created a series of about 300 pieces, which will go down in history with the nickname Skipperera. These watches were TAG Heuer’s inspiration for the creation of the new Skipper.
The TAG Heuer Skipper
Picking up exactly the features and colors of the first model, the brand created the Skipper from the new generation 39 mm Carrera Glassbox, featuring a domed crystal, a very pronounced flange for maximum readability, and a new in-house caliber.
However, the new model sports several new features compared to the past. It has three sub-dials instead of two, and the date window at 6 o’clock between the new hour markers. As it was for the Skipperera, their function is changed. At 3 o’clock we have the 15-minute countdown instead of 30, at 6 o’clock the continuous seconds, and at 9 o’clock the 12-hour counter.
Three segments divide the countdown – just like the three sirens at 5-minute intervals that are sounded before the start. The colors chosen are not random as well. The color goes from Lagoon Green to Teal and finally, Regatta Orange. The color shades going from Green to Orange recall the urgency that arises getting closer to the end of the countdown. The Teal is a clear tribute to the deck of the Intrepid.
Skipper lettering appears on the solid-color counter at 9 o’clock while triangular hour markers mark the outer circumference every 5 minutes. Complementing this is a very sporty fabric strap, leather-lined on the inside, fitted with a deployment clasp.
The in-house TH 20-06 caliber
As we mentioned earlier, the mechanism has been reworked to accommodate the 15-minute countdown. In this model we have the manufacture caliber TH20-06, as opposed to the TH20-00 found in the 39mm Glassboxes presented at Watches & Wonders.
The crown allows it to be wound in both directions, so you can operate it either forward or backward. The oscillating weight features the now classic shield, while the caliber is decorated with Cotes de Geneve. The power reserve is about 80 hours.
Price and availability
The new TAG Heuer Skipper will not be a limited edition, it will in fact be part of the core-collection, available now on their website. The retail price is €6,850. In our opinion it could be the perfect watch for summer, because of its sportiness, colors and technical strap. What do you think?
The brand also hinted that several sailing-related watches will be coming in the future. What can you expect?
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