Man saved three times in three days banned from the sea

An amateur sailor called Anthony Woodford, who needed to be saved three times in three days off the west coast of England, has been nicknamed Captain Calamity and banned from setting sail.

Mr Woodford, 52, was barred from taking his trimaran, the 25ft Star of Burnham, onto the ocean after requiring emergency help on board for the third time in three days. In just 72 hours Mr Woodford required help from an RAF rescue helicopter, two RNLI lifeboats, several coastguard rescue teams - and the Royal Logistics Corp Bomb Disposal Team.

Mr Woodford first got in to trouble on Sunday night when Swansea Coastguard picked up a Mayday signal from two men who said were lost in the Bristol Channel. The Star of Burnham was found by an RAF helicopter off the coast of Burnham-on-Sea, in Somerset, and was towed by an RNLI lifeboat to Barry. Rescuers found Mr Woodford, 52, and his companion Chris Gregory, 35, were without suitable life jackets, flares, charts or a proper radio.



Then on Tuesday morning, Mr Woodford again contacted Swansea Coastguard to say he had grounded the vessel on mudflats off the Burnham coast. Another search party was launched and the pair were found on Wednesday morning and again towed to the safety.

In the final incident the bomb squad was called to Mr Woodford's trimaran moored in Burnham-On-Sea, Somerset, over fears that his flares were so old they could explode at any moment. Burnham coastguard station officer Steve Bird said: "They were so far out of date and had such cracked cases that they could be potentially be very dangerous if fired or knocked."

Mr Woodford has now been banned from setting sail and his boat impounded by the Burnham-on-Sea harbour master Chris Spencer until he is deemed safe to be back on the water. Mr Spencer said: "I have detained him under my authority and harbour safety law. He understands he is not to go to sea until it is safe to do so. If he does go out to sea he could be arrested or go to jail."