'Captain Calamity' finally destroys his catamaran

by Lee Mylchreest on 1 Oct 2010 A hapless sailor dubbed 'Captain Calamity' has destroyed his catamaran after flipping it for the 13th time – while attempting to ride Britain's biggest wave. Sail-World Cruising has been reporting on Glenn Crawley since 2007, when the UK's Royal National Lifesaving Institute (RNLI) was already dubbing him Captain Calamity.

Crawley, 55, has repeatedly found his catamaran 'Mischief' in trouble sufficient that he needed rescuing, and so far has cost the RNLI £30,000 in rescues.

The retired electrician and engineer began sailing the boat in 2003 and was forced to dial 999 three times in the first year alone. Since then, RNLI crews have been called out on a further nine occasions – at a cost of at least £2,500 per rescue.

Officials have pleaded with him to give up sailing, but now, since the smashing of his catamaran - the 13th crash in his seven years' of foolhardy escapades - his sailing adventures could be over.

His 18ft boat is now in pieces after he attempted to ride Britain's biggest wave – known as the Cribbar – at Fistral Beach in Newquay on Cornwall's west coast. The Cribbar is formed when the swell strikes a rocky shelf half-a-mile offshore known as the Cribbar Reef, whipping up a sheer wall of water. Mr Crawley tried to sail along the wave but his vessel crashed and smashed on the rocky shelf.

Paul Benney, RNLI area lifeguard manager, said his team watched Mr Crawley enter the water and had prepared themselves for a potential rescue.

He said: 'The Fistral lifeboats noticed him coming round the headland.

'When he got amongst the surfers, they launched the jet ski. Captain Calamity was chucked out of his catamaran so he informed the coastguards he had overturned it, but it just got munched.

'The boat ended up in several pieces, so there's no Mischief anymore. I doubt it will stop him sailing, though – he doesn't seem the type to stop and I'm sure he'll find something else to ride.'

Lifeguards were once again required to pluck him from danger making it the 13th time he has been rescued since he bought the £1,200 boat.

In 2007, when Sail-World Cruising first began reporting his 'adventures', he was rescued four times in four hours by local sailors and coastguards after he flipped his boat.

In April 2008 Crawley had caused the RNLI so much grief that he was summoned to a meeting with Newquay harbourmaster Derek Aunger, who imposed a ban on him setting sail alone until he gained a basic competency qualification.

Aunger - who before the meeting labelled Crawley 'a bloody menace' and vowed not to let his boat 'anywhere near Newquay' - said later that the sailor had shown some contrition. 'He is going on a course and until he has done that he will not sail solo again,' said Aunger. 'He can sail with an experienced sailor but he must take the course which will be monitored by the sailing club and myself. It is fair to say he has seen the error of his ways.'

Not so. Despite admitting that Mischief is lost forever, Crawley sees it differently from the RNLI and warned he could soon be back at sea. He says his 'extreme sailing' is pushing the boundaries of maritime adventure.

Crawley said: 'People race cars or climb mountains but no one gets on their case. I'm the first one to admit I make the occasional mistake. You have to put it in context. People are so keen to criticise, they need to look at the big picture. I'm out there taking risks.

'If you don't capsize, you're not trying hard enough. Go hard or go home, that's my motto. I'm always going hard. I'm going through a never-ending learning curve. Anyway I'll have a new boat after Christmas. They're not that expensive.'