UHI Orkney’s Mark Shiner recognised nationally for traditional sailmaking
Mark Shiner, Curriculum Leader for Maritime and Engineering Studies at UHI Orkney, has been named a finalist in two categories at this year’s prestigious Heritage Crafts Awards – the Patron’s Award for Endangered Crafts and Scotland Maker of the Year.
The Heritage Crafts Awards celebrate exceptional individuals safeguarding traditional skills across the UK. Mark’s double shortlisting recognises his long-standing contribution to preserving traditional boatbuilding, seamanship, and sailmaking in Orkney, while inspiring a new generation of maritime craftspeople through his teaching and research.
Mark is one of only a handful of practitioners in Scotland who continue the centuries-old craft of hand-making sails. Through his work, students learn techniques that once shaped the maritime economy of Scotland and beyond, but which are now rarely practiced in modern sailmaking.
Mark said:
“I first came to sailmaking through my passion for traditional seamanship and boatbuilding. There is a deep satisfaction in shaping cloth by hand, using old rules and methods to create something functional, beautiful, and rooted in our maritime past. Keeping this craft alive isn’t about nostalgia – it’s about carrying knowledge forward, so it remains a living skill, not a museum piece.”
Since 2013, Mark has delivered UHI Orkney’s traditional sailmaking programme, initially offering one course a year and now running two annually due to growing demand. Students begin with online theoretical study, learning traditional sail design and ‘floor cutting’ techniques – the art of creating three-dimensional shape in a sail using time-honoured rules and calculations rather than computer software. They then travel to the Maritime Studies campus in Stromness for a hands-on week crafting a sail, often for a local vessel, where they learn authentic hand skills.
Mark has also secured Knowledge Exchange funding to bring traditional sailmaking to community maritime groups across Scotland. One recent project saw participants produce a traditional lug sail for Grace; a newly built replica of a late-19th-century fishing boat now housed at Strathnaver Museum. In 2023, his work gained international recognition when he was invited to train the sailmaking team at Mystic Seaport Museum in Connecticut, America’s national maritime museum. His courses now attract students from across Europe and the United States.
Mark added:
“Orkney’s maritime heritage is central to my practice. Generations of Orcadians lived by the sea, and these skills shaped community life. When students work here, they don’t just make sails – they connect with a tradition and a landscape that has always depended on the sea.”
Individuals interested in future sailmaking courses can contact the Maritime Studies team at UHI Orkney to register interest.
Professor Seonaidh McDonald, UHI Orkney Principal, congratulated Mark on his achievement:
“Mark’s dedication to traditional sailmaking reflects the spirit and heritage of Orkney. Through his teaching and engagement with communities near and far, he has ensured that these vital skills continue to thrive. This recognition demonstrates how knowledge rooted in our islands can resonate internationally, and we are proud to see Mark’s work celebrated at this level.”
The winners of the Heritage Crafts Awards will be announced at a ceremony at Wentworth Woodhouse on Monday 17 November 2025.
For the full list of finalists, visit Heritage Crafts website.