Corum to Produce In-House Regatta Movement – Finally

When sailing competitively, every team responds to the wind. At Corum, the winds of change are taking a company becalmed by its past into the future. Corum emerges from the doldrums with a renewed dedication to sailing and watchmaking; in fact, the synergy of sailing and watchmaking unleashes a new, in-house regatta movement with new products to follow.

Corum’s sponsorship of the French start-up sailing team, the Energy Team, is about winning. Despite being an America’s Cup World Series underdog, the Energy Team had everyone take notice when they recently grabbed a May win in Venice. How does one explain such immediate success? One man – Loick Peyron. Loick Peyron captains the Energy Team, is an ambassador for Corum, and is intricately involved in what is next for Corum. He is more than just a face of the brand; he is also an unofficial Research and Development consultant. He is a winner.

Valerie Debely, directrice PR Corum, reveals the unique sailing relationship with Loick Peyron that gives Corum an advantage, on the water and on the wrist. “We started a project of new development with Loick Peyron. True regatta function is actually missing on the market, so he is in contact with our watchmakers to develop a new movement, an in-house movement at Corum, which will be dedicated to regattas with different kinds of start functions. Developing new movements takes a long time. We started the process more than a year before. The new movement is expected for the year 2014. Meanwhile, we have another movement which is in development now, and should be launched next year at the beginning of the year, January, also regatta function.” Two words I did not expect to hear together, Corum and new.

Now is the right time for Corum. Loick Peyron shares, “Timing is crucial in any kind of sport. You have to start in line. You are not allowed to cross the starting line before the starting signal. That’s why it is important to have an easier way to read the time. That is why at Corum, we are working on a special product, which is going to be a very nice timing tool, especially done for the starts of any kind of race like that. Able to be read in a fraction of a second because I have to watch all the other boats who are very close together, so just in a fraction of a second, I need to be able to read how many seconds or minutes are left.” This new product is shrouded in secrecy, and the best that I could elicit was, “we don’t have any information to communicate about new models for the moment.”

The start of an America’s Cup World Series race has a small fleet jockeying for position and trying to time their approach to the start line. Cross too soon, and the Team takes a penalty, returning to the start line, but time the start just right, and you find yourself in the lead. Corum has timed this new development perfectly.

This article was written by Max E. Reddick, contributing wrier for Monochrome Watches.