Wind surfing is growing in popularity and Ireland is becoming a dominant force in Europe for sail board making.
The sail board is a fairly new addition to the sailing scene in Ireland but a very popular one.
Neil Pryde International is a sail board manufacturing company in North Cork, a subsidiary of one of the biggest sail makers in the world based in Hong Kong. The company has now manufactured 100,000 sails.
Mallow was chosen as the location for the factory due to the availability of female labour in the town, the required infrastructure was in place and the factory site was excellent for the specific industry. Neil Pryde International is one of the only companies in the world mass producing sails. While sails are a specialised product, they are a standardised product of a uniformly high quality.
The Mallow plant opened in July 1980 with a staff of 25 on the production line. Many of the workers had never seen a sewing machine before but were trained up for the job. Much of the initial training was provided with the help of AnCO in Cork city and 10 experienced Chinese instructors. Training is now provided on site in the factory.
The girls proved to be very very quick to learn.
Sail boarding has now become an officially recognised Olympic sport which will provide a further boost to its popularity.
It is now recognised as the fastest growing sport in the world.
This episode of 'Ireland's Eye' was broadcast on 11 October 1982.
