A countdown timer is a complication that counts down the minutes before a sailing race begins, usually the final 5, 10 or 15. It lets the skipper put the boat in position so it is ready to sail at the start. Sailing races use a moving start, so boats are already under way when it comes.
How does a regatta watch show the countdown?
Many regatta watches show the minutes left with a coloured or numbered disc. The disc turns under the dial and shows through windows. The Aquastar Regate worked this way. It used a Lemania movement and showed the countdown through five dots or windows, with a three-coloured disc turning underneath. Older regatta chronographs took one of two other routes. Some ran backwards from a preset time down to zero. Others used a seconds hand that moved across a reversed scale.
What happens when the countdown reaches zero?
Earlier designs only counted down. On the Ulysse Nardin Marine Regatta, the countdown hand does more than that. It pauses briefly at zero. It then counts forward to time the race itself. One hand therefore does both jobs. It counts down the minutes before the start, and it times the race once the start has passed.
Which watches have a countdown timer?
Heuer made a Yacht Timer in the 1960s. It came as a wristwatch and as a handheld stopwatch. The Rolex Yacht-Master II lets the skipper set the countdown to any length from 1 to 10 minutes. Its bezel is linked to the movement and turns through 90 degrees, first to set up the countdown and then to lock it. Frédérique Constant first released its regatta countdown watch in 1997. It later brought the watch back in a new version.
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