Sport Sailing Sets Sail In Qingdao, China
Monday, September 10, 2007SUZANNE PRATT: With the 2008 Olympic games less than a year away, the sport of sailing is catching on slowly in China's eastern coastal city of Qingdao. The city will be the official Olympic site for sailing competitions at the games and it's trying to boost China's interest in the sport. As Nick Mackie reports, the international boating industry is eyeing Qingdao as a possible manufacturing base.
NICK MACKIE, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: Qingdao's $430 million marina may be Asia's finest, but one thing's been missing from China's Olympic sailing venue: sailors. So July's delivery of 950 Optimist sailboats for the local schools, increasing the city's fleet tenfold, is significant. A sporting economy can now be nurtured, as many of these young enthusiasts will be tomorrow's consumers for the growing marine sports sector.
Qingdao is more famous for its beer than sailing. Just three years ago, the local sailing club could only muster up around 100 small dinghies. Now, with one year to go until the Olympics showcase, a sailing culture is emerging, with the government introducing the sport to schools. And although the sailing industry is still in its infancy, the Olympics is (INAUDIBLE) at attracting foreign manufacturers and generating substantial business for local boat builders. Qingdao's own Nautic Star marine won the tender (ph) to supply all the working boats for the 2008 regatta events, including 90 rigid hull inflatable power boats and three 40-foot catamarans. Last year, Nautic Star's revenues totaled $7 million. CEO Tim Shin says half came from sales abroad and a substantial sum from the Olympics.
TIM SHIN, CEO, NAUTIC STAR MARINE: Almost 35 percent of all my production is going for the related Olympic games. That's why this is not a small number for our production, so it's really busy at this moment.
MACKIE: Australia's Doyle Sails is also busy-- that is, busy getting established in China. Competition at home is tough, so the company plans to slash overhead by outsourcing all of its future manufacturing to Qingdao, supplying orders from its 50 outlets worldwide. Currently, with 10 staff in China, this loft sews sails from kits supplied by its Australian parent. The local staff have never seen a sailing boat before, far less handled sails. But according to Doyle, Qingdao's managing director, Mark Fullerton, this has not been a problem.
MARK FULLERTON, MANAGING DIR., DOYLE SAILMAKERS: A lot of the girls we've hired, even though they haven't had any sail making experience, they're very well trained machinists. Some of them have been machining for 10 years. So a big part of the job is already tackled, so to speak.
MACKIE: Although Qingdao's sailing industry is now getting a lot of Olympic-related attention from potential foreign buyers, insiders say that the shortcomings are also coming under the spotlight. Qingdao however, is serious about branding itself as China's sailing city. The authorities are banking on the Olympics to attract industry pros from abroad to partner-up with local producers. The city wants its boats berthed in jetties abroad and it wants to be ready when China's as yet unsophisticated domestic market comes of age. Nick Mackie, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Qingdao.
