RISHTON Sailing Club's Nigel Platt has been building his own boats in the hope of attracting younger members to the club.

The Rishton SC membership secretary, who is a furniture maker by trade, has put in around 40 hours with maintenance officer Jim Brown, a club member for around 20 years, to build four dinghies to use on Rishton reservoir.

The pair have been working on their labour of love at M.A. Platt Ltd on St James's Street, Accrington. The dinghies are made of plywood and fibre glass and they can vary from 12 to 18 foot.

"We have been building them for children aged about 6-14 as we have a shortage of boats at the club," said Nigel. "We want to attract younger members and we need the equipment to do this.

"Boats for training purposes can cost £800-£1,000 but by building them ourselves we can cut the cost to around £200. Children as young as six can take part, they have to be strong swimmers but we will give them instructions on dry land and then take them into one of the dinghies."

Nigel has only been involved with the club for around two years although he has built boats in the past.

"The family has grown up and I just have more time on my hands now. We just want to get more people involved. We have around 60 members at the moment aged from six to 70 although some of these are just social ones."

The club, which was started in the early 1960s, is mainly involved in dinghy sailing and windsurfing although there are a few members who have their own kayaks or canoes to use on the reservoir. Some members do compete in events all over England.

The club meets on Sunday afternoons and Wednesday evenings. If anybody is interested in joining Rishton Sailing Club - young or old - ring Nigel on 01254 234743 (day-time) or 01254 383249 (evenings).

The season starts on 21 March when there will be four races on Rishton reservoir.