regatta yacht timer

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All You Need to Know about Regatta Timers in Sailing Watches

With the passion for watches often connected to the spirit of history and tradition, it naturally makes sense to link such emotion to one of the oldest forms of human and mechanical competition - competitive sailing. Thought to date back to the Netherlands in the 17th century, sailing races (collectively called a regatta) are steeped in tradition including the start sequences that generated the need for a yacht timer.

Starting a Race

Unlike an auto race, or even a foot race, a sailboat can neither stand still on a starting grid nor can it accelerate quickly from a stop.

Instead, yachts will be in motion well before the starting line. One could think of it like a foot race where you are allowed to get a running start. The key to a proper start is crossing the starting line as soon as the starting signal sounds (but not before) and while moving as fast as possible on a good heading.

Unique Needs of a Sailing Watch

The starting procedure of a sailing race involves a series of flags and horns, but in essence, it is a 5-minute countdown (in some rarer instances 10 minutes). For that reason, most regatta timers have timing countdowns of five minutes or increments of five.

Here is the breakdown of a start:

5 minutes to start: A flag and horn to signal the start of the countdown. Engage your regatta timer on a five minute countdown.

4 minutes to start: A second flag and horn sounds. This is both a second timing reminder as well as a flag displaying starting rules of the race. If one didn’t start their 5-minute countdown, they can begin a 4-minute countdown now.

1 minute to start: Flag change and final preparatory signal.

0 minutes to start: Starting flag and signal. 

As a member of a sailing crew is likely extremely busy both positioning for a start as well as navigating around other yachts, most regatta timers are designed with high visibility in mind. Looking at both current production and vintage timers, you are likely to see high-visibility color combinations.

Why the Yachtmaster II

Unlike the standard  Yachtmaster , the Yachtmaster II features a unique regatta timing movement which improves upon the process. Our team covered the process of setting a Yachtmaster II in a  previous article .

What makes the Yachtmaster II unique is the “sync” button. Let’s use the 5-minute starting process described above as an example.

5 minutes to start: Let’s say that the designated timer on the boat was currently adjusting a sheet at the time of the signal. By the time they hit the start button on the timer, 10 seconds has elapsed. With a traditional regatta timer, your options are limited and most likely they would just try to mentally adjust the offset.  However with a Yachtmaster II, they can synchronize at the 4-minute mark.

4 minutes to start: The second horn sounds. The wearer presses the sync button, and the YM II jumps  to the nearest minute, thereby putting their yacht on the exact countdown time as the race director.

1 minute to start: They are still in sync.

0 minutes to start: You cross the starting line right as the starting horn sounds.

I Don’t Own a Boat, Do I Still Need a Regatta Timer?

If you’re expecting us to talk you out of a watch purchase, you are clearly in the wrong place. If you need a practical use, we might recommend timing a steak on the grill and thinking about 400+ years of nautical heritage. But first you have to decide: steel or two-tone?

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Introducing The Frederique Constant Yacht Timer Regatta Countdown

One of watchmaking's most charming complications returns to frederique constant..

In 1997, Frederique Constant introduced a regatta timer for the first time (and until now, the only time) in its collections. The regatta timer may be one of the most specific, if not the most specific, of all complications. A regatta timer is used to count down the amount of time remaining before the competing yachts are allowed to cross the start line during a yacht race; the start line is defined by an imaginary line drawn between two buoys. Sailboats cannot, unlike race cars, simply wait at a starting line, as they are constantly in motion thanks to the wind. Instead, racing yachts maneuver behind the start line, seeking to correctly anticipate the moment that the starting signal is given (traditionally a gun or cannon shot) at which point they can legally cross the line without incurring a penalty for starting too early.

This situation means that one of the most exciting parts of a regatta, are the moments during which the clock is counting down from the warning gun to the actual starting gun, when the yachts are maneuvering for the most advantageous possible position. The warning gun is often fired, by custom, five minutes before the starting gun so when skippers hear it go off, they know they have that amount of time before the line can be crossed. The regatta timer is set up to allow instant and intuitive read-off of the amount of time remaining before the start. Each circle represents one minute, and as the colors change in each circle in succession, skippers can easily see how much time remains, without resorting to the often difficult-to-read sub-registers of a traditional chronograph.

It is a complication whose utility outside the context of a regatta I have always struggled to envision (counting down a five minute egg?) but its very specialized purpose combined with its idiosyncratic design, give regatta timers a unique appeal among complicated watches. There will be three versions of the Yacht Timer Regatta Countdown launched in the US market, which will be a gold PVD model with a blue dial, a steel model with grey dial, and a two-tone model on a two-tone bracelet, with a guilloché pattern. 

The regatta timer is both an easy complication to dismiss, but it's also an easy complication to like, if you give it a chance. On the one hand, if you're not a yacht skipper or a regatta official, there is probably not a whole lot of use you're going to get out it. On the other hand, it is so charming and so visually punchy, and so very much a product of a time when watches were practical necessities, and made to fit every need and budget, that you can't help but fall in love with it a little bit. I have never had the pleasure of owning a regatta timer but I have had a chance to spend some time with several different models, including a vintage Heuer Regatta, and there is something irresistibly watchable about seeing those little circles change color as the minutes count down.

Whether you ever get a chance to use these for their intended purpose, they're great looking watches with a real connection to both horological history, and to Frederique Constant's own history as well. They're also very attractively priced, considering that you're getting an interesting take on an unusual complication – the most expensive (and I think most handsome) version, in rose gold plate, is $3495 ($3195 for the steel model).

Brand: Frederique Constant Model: Yacht Timer Regatta Countdown Diameter: 42mm Case Material: steel or rose gold plated steel; box-type sapphire crystal Dial Color: navy blue or grey, both with hobnail guilloché type pattern Indexes: applied Lume: Super-LumiNova on hands Water Resistance: 10 atmospheres/100 meters Strap/Bracelet: alligator leather, or matching two tone bracelet for the two tone model; extra rubber strap also included

Caliber: FC-380 (ETA 7750 or Sellita equivalent, modified to include countdown function) Functions: hours and minutes, countdown regatta timer Power Reserve: 48 hours Winding: automatic or hand-winding Frequency: 28,800 vph Jewels: 25

Price: blue dial and rose gold plated model, $3495; two tone case and bracelet, $3395; grey dial with steel case, $3195 Availability: available now

See the Yacht Timer Regatta Countdown models at FrederiqueConstant.com.

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Best Watches for Sailing: The Regatta Timer Explained

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