The Shipshape Heritage Training Partnership (SHTP) project has now given ten trainees the unique opportunity to undertake a 12-month placement with a host vessel, learning the skills of historic vessel operation, conservation and maintenance. The programme includes a course in historic vessel maintenance with the International Boatbuilding Training College in Lowestoft, a conservation placement at the Scottish Fisheries Museum and the chance to rotate amongst the partner vessels learning dif-ferent skills.

The end of January 2016 will see the final five trainees complete their training programme and leave their vessels to seek employment in the sector. National Historic Ships UK who initiat-ed and managed the SHTP project, along with its five partners, will then enter the evaluation phase of the scheme using the last three months of the programme to draw together the various legacies and consider lessons learned.

Shipshape Heritage Training Partnership (SHTP)

Project News - Spring 2016

Networking Day Event held at Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich

As the SHTP programme nears completion, a celebratory Networking Day has been organized for Wednesday 13 January at the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich to mark the successful conclusion of the project and the achievements of the ten trainees.

The programme for the day includes a debate on the future of operating historic vessels in the UK and how to keep traditional seamanship skills alive, with a panel comprising: gaff rig expert Tom Cunliffe; Cyril Varley (Association of Bargemen); Lucy Gross (ASTO); Shari Manning (bosun, Pioneer Sailing Trust) and Catherine Holt (SHTP Trainee / Invincible Project Officer).

Topics for consideration include: conserving and maintaining operational craft; sail training on vessels with specialist rigs; and making a career in the industry. The morning session will start with an introduction by NHS-UK Director Martyn Heighton, a promotional film about the project, and presentations from the Year Two SHTP trainees.

The Networking Day will be attended by a range of maritime stakeholders including sail training organisations, traditional craftsmen, heritage organisations, vessel owning bodies and training institutions giving the SHTP trainees a chance to share their experiences with the sector.

NATIONAL HISTORIC SHIPS UK, PARK ROW, GREENWICH SE10 9NF TEL: 0208 312 8558

SHTP Training Programme nears its successful conclusion

Luke Duckworth, SHTP Year 2 trainee, at the helm

The Partners: Who we are

PAGE 2 SHTP PROJECT NEWS

NATIONAL WATERWAYS MUSEUM, SOUTH PIER ROAD, ELLESMERE PORT, CH65 4FW TEL: 0151 355 5017

NATIONAL HISTORIC SHIPS UK, PARK ROW, GREENWICH SE10 9NF TEL: 0208 312 8558

Scottish Fisheries Museum, Anstruther - Fifie Reaper (lug rigged)

The Scottish Fisheries Museum tells the story of the Scottish fishing industry, its boats, harbours and communities. Trainees based at the Museum had the oppor-tunity to sail herring drifter Reaper, whilst undertaking curatorial, museum conser-vation and interpretation work, as well as specialist maintenance tasks on the mu-seum vessel collection. The Scottish Fisheries Museum also hosted the month-long conservation and interpretation placement which all SHTP trainees attended.

Excelsior Trust, Lowestoft - Smack Excelsior (gaff rigged)

The Trust was set up in 1983 to conserve and maintain Excelsior and other historic sailing vessels, and to promote sail training. It also owns a shipyard in Lowestoft which acts as the refit and oper-ating base for Excelsior. Trainees with the Excelsior Trust lived on board all year round, undertaking charter work in the summer and maintenance off-season. This year, the trainee sailed to Norway for a historic smack rally event.

Sea-Change Sailing Trust, Maldon - Thames barge

Reminder (sprit rigged) The Trust offers residential oppor-tunities for young people and vulnerable adults to develop and learn in a unique environment. Trainees had the chance to learn the specialist skills of handling a traditional Thames sailing barge, whilst learning to work closely with special needs and disadvantaged groups.

Dauntsey’s School, Solent - pilot cutter Jolie Brise (gaff rigged)

Owned, maintained and sailed by the pupils of Dauntsey’s School, Jolie Brise is a world famous pilot cutter - the last boat to carry the Royal Mail under sail and memorable for winning the Fastnet Race three times. Her trainees took part in the Tall Ships Race, worked with charter parties and pupils whilst sailing as far afield as Norway and the Azores.

Trinity Sailing Foundation, Brixham - Brixham trawler Leader (gaff rigged)

Trinity assists the growth of young people through sail training on traditional vessels and enabling people to experience life under sail and learn about the vessels’ histo-ry. Trinity trainees have been able to learn traditional seamanship and deck work, whilst undertaking maintenance tasks on the Trinity fleet and, this year, also took part in the Tall Ships Race to Norway.

National Historic Ships UK (NHS-UK) - lead partner

NHS-UK is an independent body, funded by DCMS, set up in 2006 to act as the official voice for historic vessels in the UK, promoting their activities and offering objective advice to UK governments, local author-ities, funding bodies and the historic ships sector. NHS-UK carries a wide remit, looking not only at the immediate issues concerning historic vessels in the UK, but also addressing questions relating to the sup-porting infrastructure and the skills needed to conserve and operate these craft now and in the future. NHS-UK is the lead partner on the Shipshape Heritage Training Partnership (SHTP) project.

Introducing the SHTP TRAINEES

PAGE 3 SHTP PROJECT NEWS

NATIONAL WATERWAYS MUSEUM, SOUTH PIER ROAD, ELLESMERE PORT, CH65 4FW TEL: 0151 355 5017 NATIONAL HISTORIC SHIPS UK, PARK ROW, GREENWICH SE10 9NF

Catherine Holt - joined the pro-gramme with a maritime archaeol-ogy background and was placed with the Scottish Fisheries Muse-um. She has since found employ-ment as a Project Officer at Chat-ham Historic Dockyard due to practical experience gained on the SHTP project.

Tom Cook - had previ-ous experience sailing a barge and was matched with the Sea-Change Sailing Trust as his host. His love of rigging skills has since led him to take a job with TS Rigging based in Maldon.

Fergus Taylor - with a childhood love of ships and experience as a sailing din-ghy instructor, Fergus signed on with Dauntsey’s Sailing School as his host. After completing the pro-gramme, he is now working in the maritime field.

Hugh Langworthy - having worked alongside shipwright Will Stirling, Hugh had practical experi-ence of the skills needed to con-serve historic vessels and wanted to learn more. After his placement with Trinity Sailing, he has built on this interest by taking an appren-ticeship at Tommi Nielsen’s Yard.

Helen Denning - hav-ing sailed with the Ocean Classroom Foundation in Ameri-ca, Helen wanted to learn more traditional skills. She was placed with the Excel-sior Sailing Trust, then went on to volunteer with Trinity sailing be-fore going to universi-ty. Daniel Taylor -

worked at the Plas Menai National Out-door Centre as an In-structor. His host ves-sel was a Thames barge with the Sea-Change Sailing Trust and, after completing the programme, he is looking for work during 2016 to continue build-ing on the sailing skills he has learnt.

Gabriel Clarke - be-came a dinghy instruc-tor at the age of 15 and volunteered on a num-ber of historic vessel projects before joining the programme as a trainee with the Excelsi-or Trust, Lowestoft. Having gained a num-ber of professional qualifications, his ambi-tion is to become skip-per of a traditional ves-sel.

Olivier Fleygnac - has a lifelong passion for boats and cultural heritage having first gone afloat at 16 years old when living in Marseille. A short sailing course on Le Renard gave him a further introduction to sailing and a masters degree in conservation of cultural heritage made him the perfect trainee for the Scottish Fisheries Museum placement. With both practical experience and academic qualifica-tions, he is now seeking future employment within the museum sector.

Martin Hendry - having volunteered for Trinity Sailing since 2013, the SHTP project gave Martin a chance to ce-ment the skills he had learned. An SVQ in woodworking and a fas-cination with rigging and ropework has fitted him well for his trainee role.

Luke Duckworth -

As a previous stu-dent of Dauntsey’s School, Luke was a natural choice for the second Jolie Brise trainee. His previous experience sailing historic ves-sels and his Yacht-master ticket, com-bined with new skills learned will be inval-uable in his search for employment as a skipper.

For more information on the SHTP project, please contact:

Francesco Marrella, National Historic Ships UK Email: shtp@nationalhistoricships.org.uk

www.shipshapenetwork.org.uk

As the SHTP project draws to a close, the focus is now on evalu-ation and lessons learned, ensuring that the programme achieves all its goals, builds on the outcomes and leaves a lega-cy which other organisations can benefit from going forwards. We are actively seeking funding to continue offering the pro-gramme and delivering more training opportunities for young people. In the meantime, the following areas are being devel-oped as legacy projects for SHTP:

• A competency framework and assessment units

SHTP included a skills mapping exercise to record the full range of skills being taught during the programme. These have now been set out in a competency framework with an accompanying set of assessment units and will be published on the NHS-UK website at the end of the programme for other organisations to use. We are also seeking accreditation to formalise this element of the programme.

• A crew swap facility

The SHTP project highlighted a shortage of trained seamen to act as professional crew and particularly to fill short-term vacancies. We are creating an online facility where work

opportunities can be posted during the season to fill unexpected gaps in the crew. The function will also allow members of crew from different types of vessel to carry out an exchange to broaden their experience and knowledge.

• The MAST (Members & Shipshape Trainees) Association

In Spring 2016, we will be launching the MAST Association - an alumni group for ex-SHTP trainees which will

also be open to all trainees of NHS-UK managed skills projects. Trainees, their supervisors and mentors will be eligible for a

MAST benefits scheme, as well as receiving bi-annual newsletters and invitations to an annual MAST networking

event.

• SHTP Promotional Film: ‘Learning the Ropes’

As an online legacy for the SHTP project, a short promotional film has been produced, detailing the key features

of the programme and showing the trainees at work. From January 2016, this will be available via the NHS-UK

YouTube Channel as a documentary of the scheme.

SHTP Project Legacies

SHTP PROJECT NEWS PAGE 4

NATIONAL WATERWAYS MUSEUM, SOUTH PIER ROAD, ELLESMERE PORT, CH65 4FW TEL: 0151 355 5017 NATIONAL HISTORIC SHIPS UK, PARK ROW, GREENWICH SE10 9NF TEL: 0208 312 8558

Helen Denning, Year 1 SHTP trainee

Gabriel Clarke, Year 2 SHTP trainee