Audemars Piguet

ThePuristS.com and manufacture Audemars Piguet welcomes you to the beautiful Mediterranean Coast in the South of France on Saint Tropez for a special event with the world's fastest sailboat, l'Hydroptere.




"Hello PuristS!  Bonjour et comment ca vu!  Welcome and good to see you and meet you in Saint Tropez where we can look at our fantastic project which is called l'Hydroptere the relation between boat and airplane which is as exciting as the watches from AP.  Thank you."

-Audemars Piguet CEO Mr. Philippe Merk




How cool is the AP with the 'CeraMet' material on Mr. Merk's wrist?











-MW

Next up: Audemars Piguet: l'Hydroptere PART1
This message has been edited by DRMW on 2010-09-12 14:47:28 This message has been edited by DRMW on 2010-09-12 15:00:10

The Team on board the world's fastest ship, l'Hydroptere, officially welcomes ThePuristS!



Alain Thébault, skipper of the l'Hydroptere describes the common traits with Audemars Piguet: Audacity, Passion, Techonology, and the Family Spirit.......

















Next up:  Audemars Piguet and l'Hydroptere

PART2: Boarding via the ZODIAC at 40+ knots/hour
PART3: On the waters of the French Riviera with l'Hydroptere
PART4: The new 2010 Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Diver!

-MW

Team l'Hydroptere and Audemars Piguet is planning their next attempt at another world record.  In 2011, they set sail from the home town of ThePuristS, Los Angeles, California, to the islands of Hawaii.  Of course I love Hawaii and got into a long conversation with skipper Alain Thébault (who has visited the Hawaiian Islands before) and before you know it we all started to wave the Hawaiian greeting 'hang loose'/'shaka' hand sign!    What a bunch of great guys, truly PuristS at heart.  

I did have one important question to ask the l'Hydroptere crew........




....What can I say, Team l'Hydroptere has great taste! 





Hello from the lovely Marlene!  Nice watch you got there



Marlene was gracious in pointing out the towns near Saint Tropez and other areas of interest



Happiness courtesy of Audemars Piguet:







-MW

This message has been edited by DRMW on 2010-09-12 15:01:02

From our launch from Nice, France aboard a beautiful yacht, we board a Zodiac transport vessel to the l'Hydroptere.  In the bay area near Saint Tropez, the speed limit is strictly enforce so we cruise towards the ship.





As we approach open waters, the throttle gets open and away we go!  Here we are traveling at around 45 knots/Hour (approx 51 mph)





I heard that the previous day a few people who failed to grab the O.S.B. got launched out of the Zodiac.    Glad we were all suited up and with a high tech life jacket!

Gotta hold on to this for dear life, the O.S.B.:



Luckily the waters were calmer in certain areas and we sped around flying the AP flag:



We spot the l'Hydroptere and get ready to board The World's Fastest Sailboat








-MW

The Skipper of l'Hydroptere, Alain Thébault, gives us a tour of the ship and provides some technical specs.  The all carbon fiber main construction has a span of 24 meters with a mast that's 28 meters. Although the R&D was extensive, once the world record was broken, Alain openly share all the knowledge and technology he gained from his experience and to help others build better boats.  This philosophy is aligned with those of Audemars Piguet.



The specially designed and produced by Airbus carbon fiber can handle a load up to 60 tons but alarms start sounding when stressed to 40 tons.







Let's take a peak around the cabin which houses some of the electronics, sensor detectors, and GPS/Navigation equipment.





12 knots/hour is all it take to start flying on the water



Proper hand placement when at the helm of l'Hydroptere (looks great cruising Saint Tropez with a AP strapped on your wrist!)



Even the sail is made of carbon fiber with the mast sail a blend of carbon kevlar!  They were set to test a new set of sails over the weekend.



-MW

The AP l'Hyrodptere crew in action:











Incredible that when at speed, it rises 3 meters above water!






After spending an awesome time aboard the l'Hydroptere and hanging with the cool guys of the crew, it was time to head back to the yacht.  Here the l'Hydroptere support Zodiac picks us up



Our yacht, the Artisan:



-MW

A few live pics on board the world's fastest ship l'Hydroptere and the yacht Artisan, the highly anticipated new for 2010 Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Diver:



The AP ROO Diver was the hit of the tour, IMO it's a perfect size, WR of 300m, clean black dial, just great as a everyday watch.  Wear it with your favorite pair of jeans & tshirt or dressed up in a Kiton suit, it fits all occasions perfectly!











The inner chapter ring functions as a unidirectional rotating marker to calculate elapsed time and is adjusted by the screw down crown at the 10 o'clock position.  The rubber strap is slightly more textured than the one on my ROO chrono Rubber Clad but it felt great on the wrist and this featured provided good grip on the skin when splashing all around the water on the Zodiac.



The new AP ROO Diver is available with a tang buckle, brushed finish to match the brushed parts of the case and face of the iconic octagonal bezel.  The hand polishing at Audemars Piguet is truly amazing, hard to believe the exceptional skill that is required to perform such a task.















-MW

-MW

looks like a great time on the Mediterranean!

love that "boat"

Anyhow, the new ROO Diver is definately on my radar...

I haven't done any research and I should before I ask but...it comes on bracelet/leather/rubber?

thanks for the report!

Looks like an amazing time was had.  Thanks to AP for hosting the event.  I actually wanted to see the new ROO Diver at our local AD, but they said they've not been able to get any into the showcase because they've just been snatched up at every turn.  Good for AP for designing such an attractive piece.  I can't wait to see it in the metal.

Cheers,
Daos

"I can't wait to see it in the metal."

You won't be disappointed!    Thanks for looking.

-MW
This message has been edited by DRMW on 2010-09-13 00:14:53

It looks like you had a very nice time in South of France, my friend.

The ROO Diver seems to be a very nice ROO, sporty, et elegant and quite sober.

Please tell me one thing:

From what I see on the pictures, the case seems to have a correct size for your wrist ( and your wrist seems to be average sized, like mine ).

My question is: Is the strap well adjusted?

I always had problems to perfectly adjust the strap of any ROO on my wrist ( Rubber Clad, Montoya ).

Best,

Nicolas

I have small wrist and it fit very well.  On my ROO rubberclad, I use a short strap and the ROO Diver was with a regular length.   With the acupressure wristband provided by the thoughtful AP staff for anti-seasickness, I used the 2nd hole and it was a snug fit. 

Did you ever try a short strap?  I never knew I could wear a Offshore chrono until about 3 years ago at a PuristS gtg and someone who had a short strap with the same size wrist let me try it on, it opened a whole world up for me! 

-MW

i see you had great time

Hello sms261,

Appreciate you looking!  What do you think of the AP DIVER?

-MW

Somewhere in the south of France


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And the wristshot ...



Best

Patrice

Hello Patrice!

Cool you got to see the l'Hydroptere, it's amazing isn't it?  The 'Magic Carpet' is an engineering marvel!  Too bad we didn't meet up in the South of France, next time for sure my friend!

-MW

Thanks for sharing....



Cheers

It was a fun event and well done by AP.  The l'Hydroptere is a engineering wonder, we didn't get enough wind to get the ship 3 meters high so maybe when it comes out to L.A. for the next record breaking attempt we'll have the opportunity. 

-MW

The ROO diver looks great! Love the shot that you took with the diver.

Appreciate you looking kglaw!

More from AP coming shortly, stay tuned!

-MW

And cool video of Mr. Merk.  Thanks DRMW for coverage of this event.

Regards,
ED-209