Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore 26040ST.OO.D002CA.01
The Alinghi sports team was founded in 2000 by Ernesto Bertarelli as an attempt to win the 31st America’s Cup yacht race, a feat that had never been achieved by any team in its first year. The team won, and also celebrated the title of being the first European team to ever win also.
The team’s success can be partly attributed to the support of the sponsors, who help by contributing to and developing the team and its equipment to create a race-winning set up. Audemars Piguet joined the team in 2002 alongside other brands like North Sails, Nespresso and WISeKey to help push for another America’s Cup win in 2007, which they achieved.
In support of the team’s efforts, Audemars Piguet have developed several special edition watches featuring technologies inspired by the yachts and the races, one of them being the Royal Oak Offshore Alinghi Polaris. Conceived as a yachtsman’s aid, it adds several features to the standard Royal Oak Offshore aimed specifically at yacht racing.
The standard chronograph has been upgraded to include a flyback feature, which allows the user to stop, reset and start the chronograph in just one button push, perfect for timing sectors of a race. Also integrated into the chronograph is a ten minute regatta countdown time. It would be started at the race’s ten minute warning to allow the crew to accurately time the rolling start, and also features a colour wheel that changes from red to black over the first minute, and then back to red again in the tenth minute. The bezel also features a rotatable compass that can be used to find and mark North as a back-up to a traditional compass.
Although the Alinghi team lost the 33rd America’s Cup in 2010, as well as dropping Audemars Piguet for Hublot as their timing sponsor, the Royal Oak Offshore special editions live on with the memory of the team’s early success.
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- Manufacturer: Audemars Piguet
- Range: Royal Oak Offshore
- Model: 26040ST.OO.D002CA.01
- Age: 2007 (5 years old)
- Gender: Gents
- Case: Steel
- Bracelet: Leather - Black
- Size (MM): 43
- Dial: Black Arabic