Hong Kong's NeilPryde wins triple whammy Red Dots

Homegrown windsurfing, sail and rig equipment and apparel maker NeilPryde has won three of the prestigious Red Dot awards by Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen for great design. One of them is the lofty 'Red Dot: Best of the Best Award' for NeilPryde's Lucifer dry suit.

NeilPryde's creative director Alex Zenovic says he doesn't know of any other Hong Kong brand who has won Red Dot before and that the awards are a real testament to their company's hard work and commitment to quality.

"A lot of testing takes place," he says. "It took us a year and a half to develop the Lucifer suit and we are still trying to improve it."

NeilPryde is an industry standard and the official sponsor for Olympics events. The company is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.

Here's a look at the winning products:

Lucifer dry suit

The Lucifer is the industry’s first snowboard-style drysuit. It looks like a separate jacket and pants but it's actually one piece. The Lucifer is intended for kitesurfing in extremely cold climates like in northern Europe. Water and wind-proof fabric with latex seals at wrists and ankles keeps the wearer warm while being fully breathable, allowing for perspiration. The fit of the Lucifer is designed and tested by pro riders for unrestricted freedom of movement when performing kitesurfing maneuvers. This is some hardcore tailoring.

NeilPryde 2010 Windsurfing Sails

NeilPryde is less of a fashion brand and more of a serious sports equipments maker. One of the first products to make them money are their sails. The 2010 NeilPryde sails have every single superfluous seam and panel removed and frames trimmed while retaining the signature silhouettes. The result of this minimalist approach is a dramatic reduction in weight and much larger transparent regions providing greater visibility. High quality printing using specialised inks allowed a more dynamic sail graphic.

NeilPryde X3 Windsurfing Boom

The NeilPryde X3 boom, or handlebars, allow the windsurfer to control the power in the sail, the balance and trim of the board and to assist with steering during maneuvers.

Stiffer, lighter and better looking than any of its predecessors -- we're talking about the boom, not the bodybuilding champ slash model -- the X3 has been engineered by incorporating hydroforming technology and innovative S-bend arms. The resulting boom is super strong, yet beautiful and streamlined.

Details on how to buy some of this cool kit are at www.neilpryde.com