BOLTON Sailing Club is starting to make waves by exploding the myth that it is a sport that only the wealthy can enjoy.

The club, based at the picturesque Belmont Reservoir, has been nominated by the Royal Yachting Association for the prestigious National Sports Club of the Year for its work with the community.

It has received the RYA's OnBoard status which is designed to encourage youngsters from all backgrounds to go sailing.

Organisers have also been recognised for their ground-breaking work with Pendle Community High School in Colne, which caters for youngsters with special needs.

As a result, some students with disabilities have completed their RYA training course, the established accreditation for sailing for both adults and children.

And the club's location 850 feet above sea level with good sailing winds has made it attractive to schools from all over the North-west, not just in Belmont and Bolton.

"It's one of the best waters around here," said commodore of the club, Andrew Craig. "A lot of our members are from Bolton, but there are also many from Preston and Blackburn because of the quality of our position."

Even Lancaster University bring students to Bolton Sailing Club. Mr Craig added: "They joined us about two years ago and the students come all the way from Lancaster to learn how to sail here on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

They've got about 18 boats here and they don't do too badly in the events that they enter."

Mr Craig is keen to emphasise it is not an elitist activity and it is possible to try out sailing without actually owning a boat. He explained: "We run a taster course which runs on three evenings. On the first evening we sit in the club and we talk about sailing and clothing and then we have two evenings when we actually send people out on the water in boats.

"So it's possible to get a taste of sailing without ever having done it before. What we were concerned about was that people might join the club and then get in a boat and be scared to death.

"We have had people where just putting them in a boat has scared them off the water. And we don't want people to be joining if they are not going to be sailing.

"But when people do join the club we offer free training which follows the RYA standard, but it's our own log book, and people work through that on a Sunday morning.

"That all starts once we start getting new members in. It's preferable if people can swim, but not essential, because of the life jackets we use.

"But with the youngsters who come here to sail who have disabilities it is not possible to insist that everyone can swim. We're even working on trying to get boats that you can actually get wheelchairs in."

Anyone interested in sailing can contact membership secretary Geoff Minns on 01772 452456 or visit online at www.sail.org.uk.