Lights on the Bayesian twinkle out at sea as the wind begins to pick up, blowing the sun lounger covers about the beach. Within seconds, the torrent of rain almost entirely obscures the yacht, which appears to tilt, and then rotates alarmingly before disappearing from view.
The scene, captured on grainy CCTV footage filmed from a coastal Sicilian villa, is believed to show the final moments of the luxury yacht, before it was engulfed by a storm off Porticello early on Monday.
“We didn’t see it coming,” the yacht’s captain James Cutfield told La Repubblica from his hospital bed.
He was among 15 of the 22 people on board who made it to safety.
The body of ship’s chef Ricardo Thomas was found on Monday and rescuers have since recovered five others from the wreck: British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy, Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda. The body of Mr Lynch’s daughter Hannah, 18, was recovered on Friday.
At 3am on Monday on the nearby Sir Robert Baden Powell sailing boat, Captain Karsten Borner and his crew were awake and preparing for an approaching thunderstorm that was already whipping up the waters, prompting some sailors, including fisherman Fabio Cefalu, to return to port.
Sometime after 4am, the monstrous force of the weather hit.
A body bag is brought ashore at the harbour in Porticello by rescue workers on the fifth day of the search and recovery operation. PA
Residents estimate the thunderstorm has passed over within 10 or 12 minutes but it slammed into Porticello with such force that it turned the town “upside down”, pushing a rubbish lorry into the middle of the street.
Out at sea, Mr Borner and his crew had to work hard to keep the Sir Robert Baden Powell upright, running the engine at full power, just to hold it steady through wind and rain so violent the captain assumed it was a tornado.
Angela Bacares, 57, Mr Lynch’s wife, has said her first sign that anything was amiss on board was when the yacht tilted sharply at 4am, waking the couple.
Although initially not worried, she headed out of the cabin to see what was happening, suffering cuts to her feet from shattered glass that have left her temporarily unable to walk.
At 4.20am, Mr Cefalu saw the Bayesian send out a flare.
Hannah and Mike Lynch who died after the luxury yacht Bayesian sank in a storm whilst moored around half a mile off the coast of Porticello, Sicily. PA
Within minutes, the luxury vessel was lying 50 metres beneath the waves.
It is believed the heavy storm that raged outside spawned a waterspout, a black swan freak event, that sank the ship.
Engulfed
“It was as if the world just split open,” one witness said.
“Everything was peaceful and then, in an instant, the storm hit us like a thunderbolt. The yacht – gone in what felt like seconds.”
A crew member told Boat International the yacht was struck by freak weather that caused it to tilt heavily and fast. It sank in only 12 minutes.
Mr Lynch was hosting a celebration of his recent acquittal of fraud charges in the US, with many of the guests involved the tycoon’s defence. During his decade and more of legal battles how often must his mind have shifted to the magnificent superyacht, built for speed and almost bound to impress even the richest of his peers?
After leaving San Francisco a free man, defying the odds of acquittal in a federal court that are longer than one in 200, his mind was set on a summer of celebration aboard his prized boat. Instead, he, his daughter and two other couples were consigned to the briny deep in a most cruel twist of fate.
The slick yacht, which had won several design awards, featured a minimalist-style interior with luxury cabins clustered around the centre and a colour scheme of cream, beige, brown and terracotta.
Its distinctive outward appearance – featuring the world’s second-tallest sailing mast, at 72 metres – had earned it a nod for best exterior styling at the World Superyacht Awards.
Divers search sunken superyacht Bayesian – in pictures
A body bag is brought ashore at Porticello on the fifth day of the search operation, after the luxury yacht Bayesian sank in a storm while moored off the Sicily coast. PA
A diver prepares to reach the sunken superyacht. AP
Undated family handout photo of Hannah and Mike Lynch who died after the luxury yacht Bayesian sank in a storm on Monday whilst moored around half a mile off the coast of Porticello, Sicily. Issue date: Thursday August 22, 2024. PA Photo. See PA story ACCIDENT Italy. Photo credit should read: Family Handout/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.
Rescuers test a decompression chamber at Porticello harbour. PA
A fire service helicopter returns to port, after being used to aid search efforts at the site of the sunken yacht. AP
Rescue workers transport a body bag after a luxury yacht, which was carrying British entrepreneur Mike Lynch. Reuters
An Italian fire service diving crew returns to harbour on the third day of the search. PA
Rescue divers continue their search. AFP
Divers off Porticello set out to inspect the site where the British-flagged luxury yacht Bayesian sank with 22 people onboard. AFP
The Bayesian yacht off Palermo, Sicily. EPA
Rescuers at Porticello plan their dive on the site where the Bayesian sank. AFP
A helicopter of the Italian Coast Guard above Porticello. AFP
A survivor of Monday's incident leaves Italian Coast Guard headquarters in Porticello. Reuters
A life raft docked at the harbour near the port where emergency and rescue services are working. Reuters
Health workers carry a body bag on the pier at Porticello. EPA
Originally owned by Dutch property developer John Groenewoud, who bought it for £30 million ($39.3 million), it was built by Italian shipyard Perini Navi, with the help of boat designer Ron Holland Design.
Mr Groenewoud sold it in 2014 and it is now owned by Revtom, a company owned by Ms Bacares.
The Bayesian, which was built to withstand hurricanes, underwent a major refit in 2020, when it was rumoured to have been equipped with advanced navigation systems, a new luxury interior and updated safety measures. The mast was also reportedly removed and reinstalled.
Although a crew member told Boat International that no one remembers the mast snapping, some experts have suggested it could have made the yacht more vulnerable.
Scuba divers study a plan of the Bayesian at Porticello harbour. AP
Skip Novak, a lifelong sailor who has taken part in numerous round-the-world yacht races and written books about sailing, said he believed that strong gusts probably pushed the yacht over 90 degrees to its side, and the vessel did not recover because of the weight of the huge mast and because it was anchored.
Batten the hatches
He told The National: "I know those boats because I was on a sister ship some years ago, I did a regatta down in the Antarctic on one. The boat is bombproof, as much as you could build a boat.
"But the vulnerability for me was the boat sank so quickly. So obviously it was down-flooded, meaning that water had entered at deck level. One of the vulnerable parts of that boat ... it has very big windows, on the side decks to the pilot house.
"If you threw the boat on its side you could imagine that those windows could have been shoved in. This is pure speculation. But it would have created a hole big enough to sink the ship in pretty short order."
The chief executive of the firm that built the Bayesian said the yacht was “virtually unsinkable”.
Giovanni Costantino, founder and chief executive of The Italian Sea Group, told Corriere della Sera: “The passengers reported something absurd, that the storm came unexpectedly, suddenly. That is not true. Everything was predictable.
“Ask yourself – why were none of the Porticello fishermen out that night? The disturbance was completely readable on all the weather maps. It was impossible not to know. A Perini vessel survived Hurricane Katrina. You don’t think it could survive a tornado like this?”
An initial external inspection of the vessel suggests the hull is free of leaks, with the aluminium mast intact and a partially raised keel.
The keel acts as a counterweight, to lower the centre of gravity of the boat, Matthew Schanck, chairman of the Maritime Search and Rescue Council, told The National.
“Navigationally it was safe to have the keel deployed, to have it down, since it was anchored in 50 metres of water. It also helps with stability and comfort. It would also make it less likely to capsize by lowering the centre of gravity.
A handout photo made available on 19 August 2024 by Perini Navi Press Office shows the 'Bayesian' sailing boat, in Palermo, Sicily, Italy. At least one person died, six remain missing and 15 passengers were rescued, after a 56-meter-long luxury sailboat, the Bayesian, with 22 people on board, sank at dawn on 19 August off Porticello, near Palermo, after a tornado hit the area. EPA / PERINI NAVI PRESS OFFICE / HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY / NO SALES
“From a safety perspective I would have expected the keel to be down."
The position of the keel will be a key element of the investigation into what went wrong, he said.
Investigators are also likely to look at the design of the yacht and the impact of its super-tall mast, which would have been tested during the design process with software.
“If it’s a new design I would expect them to do some small-scale modelling and testing. But that’s not going to reflect the reality of a 75-metre mast,” said Mr Schanck.
“So they will be looking at the calculations in the software and they will do all that and make sure it sits within the international maritime regulations for stability and construction, which it obviously did because it was certified by the maritime coastguard agency.”
A body bag is brought ashore at the harbour in Porticello by rescue workers. PA
The vessel’s hatches and the weather will both form key aspects of the investigation, by the UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch.
Summer storms
Witness reports suggest, and experts believe, the most likely cause of the accident was a waterspout, a mini tornado that can form during severe thunderstorms over a body of water.
But it is important that it is confirmed by investigators, because the yacht should have been able to withstand the other possibility – a squall, which is a short, but intense burst of weather, a “pretty normal event to experience at sea”, Mr Schanck said.
“If it was a squall that happened, I would be asking a lot of questions,” he said. “I would have concerns about stability, construction, decisions made.”
Waterspouts, however, are more extreme and cannot be predicted. According to the US National Ocean Service, there are two types of waterspouts – fair-weather and tornadic.
Scuba divers search for the missing boat. AP
Tornadic waterspouts “have the same characteristics as a land tornado. They are associated with severe thunderstorms, and are often accompanied by high winds and seas, large hail, and frequent dangerous lightning”, the service says on its website.
Waterspouts are very common in the Mediterranean in the summer, when the water is warm, said Mr Novak, who has seen many in the area, but never been hit by one – although he has been close.
"They appear out of nowhere," he told The National. "You see them in the distance and they move around and you keep an eye on them. Occasionally they do pass over a vessel, by law of averages.
"They cut a very narrow path of destruction."
Average monthly surface temperatures have been at record highs for months. Hotter air can hold more moisture, making heavier storms more likely.
Sicily has been baking under intense heat this summer, and the United Nations’ panel of climate change experts notes the Mediterranean Sea is particularly vulnerable to climate change, with warming rates roughly 20 per cent higher than the global average.
Climate change is expected to lead to more extreme weather – and by consequence possibly more waterspouts.
“If it was a waterspout, that is that black swan event,” said Mr Schanck. “What could we really do to plan and mitigate that? Not a lot.”
How to help or find other cats to adopt
There are many that often look for volunteers or other types of assistance. They include:
Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Recharge as needed, says Mat Dryden: “We try to make it a rule that every two to three months, even if it’s for four days, we get away, get some time together, recharge, refresh.” The couple take an hour a day to check into their businesses and that’s it.
Stick to the schedule, says Mike Addo: “We have an entire wall known as ‘The Lab,’ covered with colour-coded Post-it notes dedicated to our joint weekly planner, content board, marketing strategy, trends, ideas and upcoming meetings.”
Be a team, suggests Addo: “When training together, you have to trust in each other’s abilities. Otherwise working out together very quickly becomes one person training the other.”
Pull your weight, says Thuymi Do: “To do what we do, there definitely can be no lazy member of the team.”
UAE jiu-jitsu squad
Men: Hamad Nawad and Khalid Al Balushi (56kg), Omar Al Fadhli and Saeed Al Mazroui (62kg), Taleb Al Kirbi and Humaid Al Kaabi (69kg), Mohammed Al Qubaisi and Saud Al Hammadi (70kg), Khalfan Belhol and Mohammad Haitham Radhi (85kg), Faisal Al Ketbi and Zayed Al Kaabi (94kg)
Women: Wadima Al Yafei and Mahra Al Hanaei (49kg), Bashayer Al Matrooshi and Hessa Al Shamsi (62kg)
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Uefa Nations League
League A:
Germany, Portugal, Belgium, Spain, France, England, Switzerland, Italy, Poland, Iceland, Croatia, Netherlands
League B:
Austria, Wales, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Ukraine, Republic of Ireland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, Denmark, Czech Republic, Turkey
League D:
Azerbaijan, Macedonia, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, Latvia, Faroe Islands, Luxembourg, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Liechtenstein, Malta, Andorra, Kosovo, San Marino, Gibraltar
What vitamins do we know are beneficial for living in the UAE
Vitamin D: Highly relevant in the UAE due to limited sun exposure; supports bone health, immunity and mood. Vitamin B12: Important for nerve health and energy production, especially for vegetarians, vegans and individuals with absorption issues. Iron: Useful only when deficiency or anaemia is confirmed; helps reduce fatigue and support immunity. Omega-3 (EPA/DHA): Supports heart health and reduces inflammation, especially for those who consume little fish.
EPL's youngest
Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal) 15 years, 181 days old
Max Dowman (Arsenal) 15 years, 235 days old
Jeremy Monga (Leicester) 15 years, 271 days old
Harvey Elliott (Fulham) 16 years, 30 days old
Matthew Briggs (Fulham) 16 years, 68 days old
RESULTS - ELITE MEN
1. Henri Schoeman (RSA) 57:03
2. Mario Mola (ESP) 57:09
3. Vincent Luis (FRA) 57:25
4. Leo Bergere (FRA)57:34
5. Jacob Birtwhistle (AUS) 57:40
6. Joao Silva (POR) 57:45
7. Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) 57:56
8. Adrien Briffod (SUI) 57:57
9. Gustav Iden (NOR) 57:58
10. Richard Murray (RSA) 57:59
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
MATCH INFO
CAF Champions League semi-finals first-leg fixtures
Tuesday:
Primeiro Agosto (ANG) v Esperance (TUN) (8pm UAE)
Al Ahly (EGY) v Entente Setif (ALG) (11PM)
Lt Gen Erik Petersen, deputy chief of programs, US Army, has argued it took a “three decade holiday” on modernising tanks.
“There clearly remains a significant armoured heavy ground manoeuvre threat in this world and maintaining a world class armoured force is absolutely vital,” the general said in London last week.
“We are developing next generation capabilities to compete with and deter adversaries to prevent opportunism or miscalculation, and, if necessary, defeat any foe decisively.”
Company profile
Name: The Concept
Founders: Yadhushan Mahendran, Maria Sobh and Muhammad Rijal
Based: Abu Dhabi
Founded: 2017
Number of employees: 7
Sector: Aviation and space industry
Funding: $250,000
Future plans: Looking to raise $1 million investment to boost expansion and develop new products
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
La Mer beach is open from 10am until midnight, daily, and is located in Jumeirah 1, well after Kite Beach. Some restaurants, like Cupagahwa, are open from 8am for breakfast; most others start at noon. At the time of writing, we noticed that signs for Vicolo, an Italian eatery, and Kaftan, a Turkish restaurant, indicated that these two restaurants will be open soon, most likely this month. Parking is available, as well as a Dh100 all-day valet option or a Dh50 valet service if you’re just stopping by for a few hours.
The Equaliser 2
Director Antoine Fuqua
Starring: Denzel Washington, Bill Pullman, Melissa Leo, Ashton Sanders
Three stars
The biog
Job: Fitness entrepreneur, body-builder and trainer
Favourite superhero: Batman
Favourite quote: We must become the change we want to see, by Mahatma Gandhi.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 38,387
Karl Malone 36,928
Kobe Bryant 33,643
Michael Jordan 32,292
LeBron James 31,425
Wilt Chamberlain 31,419
Company Profile
Name: Thndr Started: 2019 Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr Sector: FinTech Headquarters: Egypt UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi Current number of staff: More than 150 Funds raised: $22 million
Packages which the US Secret Service said contained possible explosive devices were sent to:
Former first lady Hillary Clinton
Former US president Barack Obama
Philanthropist and businessman George Soros
Former CIA director John Brennan at CNN's New York bureau
Former Attorney General Eric Holder (delivered to former DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz)
California Congresswoman Maxine Waters (two devices)
England 290 & 346
Sri Lanka 336 & 226-7 (target 301)
Sri Lanka require another 75 runs with three wickets remaining
The Bio
Hometown: Bogota, Colombia Favourite place to relax in UAE: the desert around Al Mleiha in Sharjah or the eastern mangroves in Abu Dhabi The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly Favourite documentary: Chasing Coral by Jeff Orlowski. It's a good reality check about one of the most valued ecosystems for humanity
