Halifax Sailing Club has bought four new dinghies, a range of wetsuits and other equipment with the money from the Awards for All lottery fund and Calderdale Community Small Grants.

And the group put the boats to good use in an annual competition against local rivals Scammonden Sailing Club at the weekend.

Committee member Richard Oldham said: "Before we begged and borrowed our equipment so it is wonderful to have some new stuff of our own."

The group, based at Warley Moor Reservoir, Wainstalls, has received £9,745 from the lottery fund and £1,900 from the Calderdale scheme.

Club trainer Kevin Brennan said: "Nobody was more surprised than me when we got the money.

"We had been trying to offer Royal Yachting Association standard training with less-than-ideal equipment and clothing. Beginners have enough to contend with without that."

Now the sailing season is getting under way, the club has bought three Topper dinghies and one two-seater Wayfarer, as well as clothing and safety equipment for windsurfers and dinghies. The club bought one of the boats from their own funds.

The Halifax Sailing Club, England's highest sailing club at 400m above sea level, received accreditation for their training schemes from the Royal Yachting Association in 2003.

Mr Oldham said: "We train people of all ages, from children to pensioners. I think the oldest recently was 67."

Mr Brennan said he hoped the purchases would allow the not-for-profit club, run by volunteers, to grow.

The club hosted the Inter Club Trophy Annual Sailing Competition for 2008 on Sunday but their Scammonden rivals sailors took the title.

Eighty-three-year-old Richard Redman won Halifax's highest ranking finishing in sixth place.