In 1998 Dutch Herbert Dercksen, Olympic sailor with several national, European and World titles to his name, and Frans Dingerdis, also sailor and sales & marketing specialist, founded the watch company Tack & Gybe International B.V. (TNG). In cooperation with Peter Stas, owner and managing director of the Swiss Frederique-Constant, and also Dercksen’s cousin, they developed the TNG Tornado Yacht Timer. The newly developed quartz regatta movement TG-298 does not only have the possibility to preset the traditional 5 and 10 minutes start, but also the new 3 and 6 minutes to comply with both the Olympic racing rules of sailing and the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) starting procedures.

In 2004 the Austrian watchmaker Richard Habring was asked by TNG to investigate the possibility of developing an automatic version of the Tornado, based on an ETA/Valjoux 7750 chronograph movement. The same caliber that had been used before by both Atlantic, Eberhard, Memosail and Wyler Vetta in the 1980’s for their Regatta Yachttimers. As the regatta caliber 7757 was no longer available since 1988, Habring had to reproduce it starting again with the 7750. Doing so, two prototypes were made. One similar to the previous quartz version and one with an extra 60-minutes counter hand from the center.

In 2005 the third edition of the TNG watch brochure featured the Tornado MkII with an automatic movement. However this automatic MkII was not taken into production. Only a few models of the Tornado MkII were made, on special request only.

Then in 2015, 17 years since the introduction of the first TNG Tornado with quartz movement, TNG introduced a new flagship model range: the new Classic Tornado with automatic movement. Finally the new regatta movement was taken into production, after a long period of research and testing. A great combination between Dutch design and Swiss made perfection!

TNG's flagship model, the Classic Tornado Sailing Chronograph, is a high-quality fully automatic sailing timer and an exclusive limited-edition. The Tornado contains a Valjoux 7750 timepiece, completed with a TNG-engineered module to drive a disk that shows the five dynamic dots on its dial. Each dot represents one minute, so when it's running, one dot fully changes color every 60 seconds. Therefore this ultimate sailing timer is always ready for a five (or ten) minute countdown. The dial is also distinguished by a stylish tactical-planner layout to aid in navigation. This is a watch for winning a race and heading straight to dinner at the yacht club.