'Captain Calamity' has to be rescued once again

Jonah had considerably more luck at sea than Stuart Hill, the lone yachtsman now better known as Captain Calamity, who has chalked up yet another hospital visit after more off-shore exploits.

The 58-year-old director of an internet company was treated for hypothermia and shock after being airlifted from the wreckage of his upturned boat in the middle of a raging storm almost 60 miles west of the Shetland Isles. The rescue was the latest of eight emergencies which have required the coastguard to come to Mr Hill's aid.

So far, the cost of saving the adventurer has been almost £40,000 – double what he hoped to raise sailing around the 2,000 miles of British coastline.

Captain Calamity's voyage began in May – several weeks later than planned because he had an allergic reaction to the resin used to prepare the 14ft craft he cobbled together from a rowing boat and windsurfer.

When he finally launched his aptly-named vessel, Maximum Exposure, into the river Stour near his home at Manningtree, Essex, in May, he collided with another boat within minutes, necessitating a brief stop for repairs.

Six days later, Mr Hill was forced to ask the Cromer coastguard in Norfolk for help when his sailboard mast broke, leaving him stranded. Three weeks afterwards, he set sail again – into high winds that reduced his progress to less than three miles in three days. At Trimingham, south of Cromer, he was forced to accept a lifeboat crew's offer to tow him into port.

Despite other mishaps and warnings that his craft was ill-equipped, Mr Hill carried on. His voyage, however, finally came to an end when his "unsinkable" boat was overturned on Tuesday night in 30-foot waves and winds of almost 50 knots.

Mr Hill was in the water clinging to his boat for an hour before a rescue helicopter reached him. He was detained overnight at Gilbert Bain Hospital in Lerwick, but released yesterday morning.