Perini Navi Megayacht ‘Bayesian’ Sinks off Italy: One Dead, Six Missing
The 184-ft Perini Navi sailing yacht Bayesian sank in a storm off Porticello in Sicily, the New York Times reported this morning. One person is confirmed dead, while six others are missing. It was reported that 12 guests and 10 crew were aboard, with 15 now rescued. The boat sank in 165 feet of water after being hit by strong winds at 5 a.m. Monday morning. Italian news reports the boat was hit by a waterspout.
One of those missing is British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, who sold his company to Hewlett Packard in 2011. He was cleared of fraud charges related to the sale in a San Francisco court in June.
At this point, the exact cause of the sinking is unknown. Reports are that the Bayesian was caught in a sudden weather event; its mast broke in the waterspout and the boat sank quickly, trapping some passengers in their cabins. According to the Times, “a fisherman in Porticello, told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica that he saw a waterspout” off the shore of Porticello shortly before 4 a.m. Soon after he saw a flare. The fisherman went to the site after the weather calmed, about 20 minutes later. There was floating debris but no sign of the ship.
Investigators are waiting to interview survivors and are diving on the yacht to determine what happened.
Wow, I will definitely be following this story. This is shocking.
Supposedly at anchor but no protection according to map.
Seems odd: depth reported as ~50 meters, no protection. why would one anchor there? Possibly just drifting? I hope an actual mariner makes a report soon, for t he newsies don’t do well reporting maritime events.
Jim
The world is so small sometimes. Porticello is at latitude 38.1, and is the ancestral home of nearly all the Sicilian-American families who once made their living sailing out of Fisherman’s Wharf.
Presumably, the water spout knocked BAYESIAN down. Why did it fill with water and sink before righting itself ? It would be interesting to see the Capsize Screening Formula, the ballast/displacement ratio and the name of the naval architect.
Temperature that night at the nearby Palermo airport was around 80 degrees. Hatches & ports left open for ventilation???
This vessel uses a retractable keel. So, when in the up position, she would be much more susceptible to capsizing. A strong gust of wind could make it very unstable cause such an incident. Very sad.
must have a 50 ton keel……faced into wind and just flipped on its side…… but with retractable keel it makes more sense…..very sad.