Captain Calamity says Shetlands not Scottish

You couldn't make it up.

Stewart Hill got the nick-name "Captain Calamity" after a disastrous round Britain started badly, getting into difficulties off Yarmouth, and ended badly as he was rescued off the Shetlands when his converted 15 foot rowing boat (with its windsurf sail) capsized.

And he stayed there - the Shetlands that is - where he now owes a local accountants £1,200 pounds.

But rather than paying up he's decided to argue that the contract, written under Scottish law, does not apply as the Shetlands are not part of Scotland.

The argument is that apparently "when King Christian of Denmark pawned the islands to Scotland in 1469, he was not entitled to do so as under Norse udal law the land did not belong to him". And the reason King Christian needed the money was that his daughter Margaret became engaged to James III of Scotland and he needed to pay her dowry.

However the court hearing today was canceled when the recent bad weather grounded flights - so the snow stopped the sheriff.

Can't wait to see how this goes!