Stuart Hill (sailor)

Stuart Hill (born around 1943), is an English pensioner dubbed "Captain Calamity" in 2001 after he needed to be rescued from multiple misadventures while sailing. He later moved to the Shetland Islands where he took to protesting around constitutional matters. In 2008 he made claims relating to the formation of a micronation which he called the Sovereign State of Forvik. His disputes led to several court appearances. Hill unsuccessfully stood for election to Orkney and Shetland as an Independent in the 2017 UK general election where he came last.

Hill was born around 1943 in Suffolk, England. He was formerly a metalworker.

In 2001, aged 58, he left Suffolk on a sailing trip. Media reports used the "Captain Calamity" epithet when Hill caused five lifeboat launches and two rescue helicopter call-outs during a failed attempt to single-handedly circumnavigate Britain in a "15-foot (4.6 m) dinghy" during 2001. His vessel Maximum Exposure – a "converted rowing boat" "likened to a glorified sailboard" with a sail "canibalized" from a windsurfing board – was considered by many, including the Coastguard and RNLI, to be under-equipped and "unfit" for such a journey.

Louis Rivett-Carnac, of the Great Yarmouth coastguard said

"This type of craft is totally unsuitable for what he wanted to do. Even if you were Francis Drake you would have trouble in a craft like that."

Hill's problems began when his launch was delayed for a month after he suffered an allergic reaction to resin he was using to treat the hull of his boat. He launched into the River Stour near his Manningtree home in May 2001. As he set off "someone had to chase after him with a spare centreboard" He damaged his vessel when he "crashed into another boat only minutes after setting sail". Six days and 100 miles later he had to be towed ashore by Cromer lifeboat Ruby and Arthur Reed II after calling Cromer coastguard in Norfolk to report that his mast, taken from a sailboard, had split.

Soon after he ran into trouble with the authorities for "selling promotional T-shirts without a licence"

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Wikipedia