A luxury superyacht capsized off the coast of Sicily after a tornado hit the area early Monday, killing one passenger and leaving six others missing — including a tech tycoon known as “Britain’s Bill Gates,” officials said.
The Bayesian — a 184-foot luxury sailboat with 22 people aboard — sank off the port of Porticello when it was hit by a violent storm at sunrise, the Italian coast guard said.
The coast guard deployed a team of divers to search the submerged vessel for survivors some 160 feet beneath the water’s surface, with authorities fearing some of the missing passengers could be trapped inside their rooms, BBC reported.
The passengers were reportedly from the UK, the US, Canada, Sri Lanka and Ireland.
One body, believed to belong to the ship’s chef, Canadian-born Thomas Recaldo, who had been living in Antigua, was found near the wreck, the Palermo Port Authority told CBC News.
Six others were missing as of Monday morning, including the vessel’s owner, British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, sources told Reuters and the Independent.
The last photo thought to have been taken of the yacht at 10 p.m. Sunday in Porticello. BAIA Santa Nicolicchia / Facebook
A still image from footage taken of the storm that hit the port. BAIA Santa Nicolicchia / FacebookBritish tech tycoon Mike Lynch, and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, were among the missing, according to Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacaras, the Telegraph reported.
Bacaras, who is the sole shareholder of the firm that owns the yacht — Isle of Man-registered Revtom Limited company — was rescued along with 14 others from the yacht.
One of the survivors, Charlotte Golunski, 35, described to Italian newspaper Giornale Di Sicilia how she and her 1-year-old daughter survived the harrowing experience.
Divers jump into the water looking for the missing people after the storm struck the yacht. @vigilidelfuoco/X“For two seconds I lost my baby in the sea, then I immediately hugged her again amid the fury of the waves,” she said.
“I held her tightly, close to me, while the sea was stormy. Many were screaming. Luckily the lifeboat inflated and all 11 of us managed to get on board.”
The captain was also among the survivors, an Italian coast guard spokesperson told CNN.
What to know after a tornado sank the yacht Bayesian off the coast of Sicily:
- A superyacht capsized off the coast of Sicily after a tornado hit the area early Monday, killing seven passengers.
- British tech tycoon Mike Lynch was identified as one of the bodies pulled from the wreckage. His teenage daughter, Hannah, was the final one to be recovered.
- Lynch — known as “Britain’s Bill Gates” — had invited guests from Clifford Chance, a legal firm that represented him, and Invoke Capital, his own company, on the voyage, according to the Telegraph.
- Security camera footage shot from 650 feet from where the Bayesian sank Monday shows it disappearing.
- A rare and unexpected “black swan” weather event may have led to the Bayesian’s speedy demise, maritime experts say.
A helicopter and rescue boats from the coast guard, carabinieri, fire rescue and civil protection service were at the scene early Monday searching for those who had not been accounted for, according to the Australian Associated Press.
The massive yacht, the Bayesian, flies under the British flag and can reach a maximum speed of 15 knots (17 mph). It comes equipped with six cabins, including a full beam master suite, according to yacht charter websites, which list the ship as available for rent for up to $215,000 per week.
Rescue teams were out early Monday saving passengers who were on the superyacht that sank off the coast of Sicily. REUTERS/
The 160-foot luxury sailboat with 22 people aboard sank off the port of Porticello when it was hit by a violent storm at sunrise, the Italian coast guard said. REUTERSTwelve of its passengers were guests while 10 were crew.
The boat left the Sicilian port of Milazzo on Aug. 14 and was last tracked east of Palermo on Sunday evening, according to vessel tracking app Vesselfinder.
Lynch, often referred to as “Britain’s Bill Gates,” is one of the UK’s most prominent tech entrepreneurs.
He founded enterprise software firm Autonomy, which he sold for $11 billion to Hewlett Packard for $11.7 billion in 2011.
Passengers on the ship were British, American and Canadian. REUTERS/However, HP later sued Lynch claiming he overstated the value of the company, and ultimately took a $8.8 billion writedown on the purchase, later blaming “accounting irregularities” for overpaying for Autonomy.
Last year Lynch was extradited to the US to stand trial for fraud charges over HP’s allegations, but he was acquitted last June. The jaunt on the Bayesian was intended as a celebration of the tech magnate’s acquittal, according to the Telegraph.
Lynch had invited guests from the legal firm that represented him, Clifford Chance, and Invoke Capital, his own company, on the voyage, the outlet reported.
The doomed vessel was on its way to Palermo, originally departing from Positano, a village on the southern Amalfi Coast, on July 30, according to marinetraffic.com.
Its last docking location was in the town of Milazzo on Wednesday.
The ship’s manufacturer, Perini Navi, says on its website that the Bayesian’s aluminum mast is the tallest in the world — measuring nearly 250-feet.
With Post wires







