Captain Calamity’s legal bid sunk by bad weather
THE court papers may call him Stuart Hill, but he’s been better known as Captain Calamity since he was airlifted off his upturned, 14ft boat after a series of disasters on his attempt to sail single-handed around Britain.
The controversial 65-year-old is now challenging Scots law with a claim that the Crown has no sovereignty over the Shetland Islands, which, he claims, were pawned by King Christian of Denmark to Scotland in 1469.
But a preliminary hearing set to be heard at Kirkwall Sheriff Court yesterday had to be called off when the weather prevented the sheriff even reaching Shetland.
Mr Hill says the Crown never established ownership of the islands, he says, and therefore has no jurisdiction over him in a civil claim being brought by accountancy firm the A9 Partnership.
Mr Hill, who settled in Shetland after his boat, the Maximum Exposure, capsized 50 miles from the coastline in 2001, believes his case could give Shetland autonomy and could challenge the Crown’s right to extract oil from around the islands’ shores.
What I am doing throws into doubt Shetland’s officially accepted relationship with Scotland, the UK and Europe
He said: "What I am doing throws into doubt Shetland’s officially accepted relationship with Scotland, the UK and Europe. It could undermine the Crown Estates’ right to the seabed in Shetland.
"It could question the UK Government’s legitimacy in licensing oil companies to extract oil from around Shetland’s shores, and it could leave Shetland free of the EU, Holyrood, London or Brussels. I intend to challenge the jurisdiction of the court."
Mr Hill was to have represented himself in the case, which will not now be heard until April 22.
He earned his Captain Calamity nickname after setting out from his home in Manningtree, Essex, to circumnavigate Britain in 2001.
He immediately hit trouble with a series of call-outs to coastguards from worried observers who thought he was about to sink.
Mr Hill was heavily criticised for wasting the time and resources of the coastguard and lifeboat services at the time.
When he arrived on Shetland following his rescue, he had just the clothes he stood up in, his wife of 33 years, Violet, had left him for another woman and had sold their home.
