This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers visit http://www.djreprints.com.
https://www.barrons.com/articles/watchmaker-ulysse-nardin-sets-sail-in-an-around-the-world-race-01658950637
Last week in the sailing capital of Newport, R.I., watch brand Ulysse Nardin announced its sponsorship of the 11th Hour Racing Team and its effort to win next year’s Ocean Race, an around-the-world endurance sailing competition that launches from Alicante, Spain, on Jan. 15, 2023.
The Swiss brand had already signed on as official timekeeper for The Ocean Race, which covers 31,700 nautical miles (36,000 miles) through some of the planet’s most inhospitable waters, stopping at nine international cities, including Newport, over a six-month period. The race, which dates to 1973, was previously named the Whitbread Round, the World Race, and Volvo Ocean Race before it was renamed The Ocean Race in 2019.
“Our colleagues in Switzerland made a partnership with The Ocean Race, a sustainable-oriented sailing race,” said François-Xavier Hotier, Ulysse Nardin’s president for the Americas, before heading out for a sail on Narragansett Bay. “We thought, ‘Okay, it’s good to be timekeeping for this amazing race, but how do we put people inside the boats so they understand the hardships of these types of adventures?’”
So, the company went a step further, sponsoring 11th Hour Racing, the only U.S. team in the race, sailing on Mālama, a 60-foot IMOCA (International Monohull Open Class Association) class boat based in Newport.
Charlie Enright and Mark Towill, 11th Hour Racing Team co-founders and veterans of two around-the-world races, built the first IMOCA 60 specifically commissioned for a fully crewed entry in next year’s race, which marks the first time IMOCAs will be allowed to compete. Mālama, a Hawaiian word that means to protect and care for, launched in August 2021.
“This boat is very much a rocket ship,” says Towill, who was wearing Ulysse Nardin’s new Ocean Race Diver (US$11,500). “On a traditional sailboat, you are outside and you feel the elements of the wind and waves in your face. This boat goes so fast that we designed everything below deck.”
The boat’s foils, which stick out from the sides, lift the boat out of the water to maximize speed, reaching up to 38 knots (44 miles per hour).
The special edition 44mm Ocean Race Diver, limited to 200 pieces, is part of Ulysse Nardin’s ongoing efforts to improve sustainability and incorporate upcycled and recycled materials in its watches, tapping a network of suppliers from outside the watch industry.
The Ocean Race Diver’s unidirectional rotating bezel is made of Carbonium, a carbon composite produced by the French firm Lavoisier Composites, with the same fibers used for aircraft fuselage and wings. Producing Carbonium from offcuts of aircraft parts further reduces environmental impact compared to other carbon composites.
The side-case and case-back are made with a combination of 40% Carbonium and 60% Nylo, a polyamide material made from recycled fishing nets by the French company FIL&FAB. The stainless-steel case components are made with at least 80% recycled steel from the automotive industry, sourced from VoestalpineBoehler of Austria. The fabric strap is also fully recycled from fishing nets, transformed into reels of yarn by the French company JTTI.
The Ocean Diver comes packaged in a water-resistant R-PET pouch slipped into a dry bag recycled from the sea by Helly Hansen, another Ocean Race partner.
Ocean Race Diver is powered by the automatic UN-118 movement, incorporating advanced silicon technology, with 95% of movement components sourced within a 30-kilometer (18.6 miles) radius of the manufacture—half of them coming from recycling channels, particularly recycled steel and brass, which is used in all Ulysse Nardin movements.
Designed in white, gray, and black with bright green accents, the Ocean Race Diver is water-resistant to 300 meters and features a power reserve indicator at 12 o’clock and a small-seconds hand at 6 o’clock. The sapphire crystal case back showcases the movement and is embellished with a white transfer of the Ocean Race logo.
Sustainability is also a key part of 11th Hour Racing’s mission. Its name refers to the final hour on the clock with the time ticking down in the race to restore the health of the planet. As part of the Schmidt Family Foundation, 11th Hour Racing fosters environmentally sustainable practices and partners with entities, such as Ulysse Nardin, that have demonstrated a commitment to those values while helping to spread the critical message of ocean stewardship.
“We are trying to be a professional sports team and also do that in a way that represents our values and to leave the world and the ocean in a better place,” Towill says. “Sustainability is at the core of everything we do.”
Last week in the sailing capital of Newport, R.
An error has occurred, please try again later.
This article has been sent to
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com.