Shetland Coastguard received a call at 2123 on Tuesday 21 August from a man who said he had been thrown from his boat as it inverted. He had lashed himself to the upturned hull, positioned 52 miles west of Shetland, and requested rescue.

Coastguard ASR unit ‘Oscar Charlie’ was scrambled and the Aith lifeboat was launched. Oscar Charlie reached the reported location at 2200, recovered the man and delivered him to Gilbert Bain Hospital in Lerwick where he is being treated for hypothermia. The man was in 13°C water for an hour and was not wearing an immersion suit.

For their part, the Coastguard had been expecting his call for some time. The man in question is Stuart Hill from Essex, better known as Captain Calamity. His boat is a 14ft hull topped by a windsurfer rig and aptly-named Maximum Exposure.

Hill, 58, is attempting to circumnavigate the UK for charity but he has been forced to call on the expensive services of the Coastguard and RNLI on several occasions – seven last month alone – hence the pseudonym. They had been monitoring his progress by VHF in anticipation of a rescue request.

It is unclear whether Hill intends to continue his voyage but he is clearly not a man easily deterred.