Mike Lynch, the UK tech mogul known for his trailblazing innovations, had named his opulent 184-foot yacht, Bayesian, after a mathematical model designed to gauge risk. Ironically, no algorithm could have predicted the catastrophic events that unfolded early Monday morning.
As dawn approached, lightning began to crackle over the tranquil waters near the Italian island of Sicily. Within moments, a ferocious storm—complete with waterspouts resembling mini-tornadoes—struck the superyacht, which was anchored in Porticello harbor. The tempest was swift and brutal, overwhelming the vessel in a matter of minutes.
“We didn’t see it coming,” recounted Bayesian’s captain, James Catflield, from a hospital bed, just hours after the yacht sank into the depths of 160 feet of water. This disaster, which struck just after 4 a.m., left 22 revelers aboard the yacht grappling with a nightmare.
By Wednesday morning local time, the situation was dire. While 15 individuals, including Lynch’s wife and a mother with her 1-year-old baby, managed to escape, six passengers were still missing. Among them were Lynch himself, his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, New York City attorney Christopher Morvillo and his wife Neda, and Morgan Stanley executive Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy. The only confirmed fatality was the yacht’s chef, Ricardo Thomas, who was among the ten crew members.
The tragedy occurred in the midst of what was supposed to be a jubilant celebration. Lynch had invited his guests aboard the Bayesian to mark his acquittal from a high-profile multibillion-dollar fraud case. The charges stemmed from accusations that Lynch had manipulated the valuation of his company, Autonomy, prior to selling it to Hewlett-Packard in 2011 for a staggering $11 billion. Hewlett-Packard later claimed that Lynch had misled them, leading to a massive $8.8 billion write-down.
Lynch’s legal battle spanned a grueling 12 years, during which he faced house arrest and the looming threat of 25 years in prison if convicted. The dramatic courtroom scenes upon his acquittal were electrifying. Less than 1% of federal criminal cases end in acquittal, and Morvillo, a 59-year-old partner at a prestigious law firm, described the moment as unparalleled. “It was this electric moment. I’ve never seen anything like it in a courtroom before,” he told the legal podcast “For the Defense” shortly before the Bayesian disaster.
After the verdict, Lynch’s wife, Angela Baracas, 57, was overcome with emotion, running to embrace her husband amid a sea of tears and cheers. “Grown people sobbing, hugging … people clapping, it was remarkable,” Morvillo reflected, describing the celebration that continued into the early hours of the morning.
In a poignant LinkedIn post following the verdict, Morvillo expressed gratitude to his family for their unwavering support throughout the protracted legal ordeal. Reports indicated that Morvillo’s daughters, both in their 20s, were believed to be in Italy with their parents but were not aboard the ill-fated yacht.
Lynch, who had seen his net worth dwindle from $1.1 billion to $650 million over the past year, felt a renewed sense of purpose. “The question is, what do you want to do with it?” he pondered in an interview with the Sunday Times of London in July, reflecting on his new lease on life. This celebratory spirit carried into the summer, culminating in the grand Mediterranean cruise on the Bayesian.
However, the celebration was abruptly cut short when a severe squall ravaged Porticello on Monday morning. The storm, which seemed to target the yacht with unrelenting fury, sank the vessel in just two minutes. Nearby smaller boats appeared to emerge with minimal damage, accentuating the sheer scale of the disaster.
Local fisherman Fabio Cefalù, who had taken refuge on shore as the storm approached, watched in disbelief as the Bayesian was swallowed by the tempest. “After 10 minutes we went out to sea and saw cushions and debris from the boat scattered around,” Cefalù recounted. “However, we did not see any people in the sea.”
The exact cause of the yacht’s rapid sinking remains a mystery. Some experts speculate that the vessel’s towering 240-foot mast may have played a role. The mast, resembling a giant sail, could have exacerbated the boat’s instability in the high winds, potentially causing it to capsize, according to Maritime Search and Rescue Council chair Matthew Schanck.
Witnesses described the scene as chaotic and heart-wrenching. The yacht, initially floating, seemed to vanish in an instant. One fisherman recalled, “The boat was still floating, then all of a sudden it disappeared.”
Onboard, Lynch’s wife, Baracas, was abruptly awoken when the yacht suddenly tilted. Initially dismissing the disturbance, she was soon overwhelmed by shattered glass and debris. In a frantic scramble, she made her way on deck and into the tempestuous sea.
Passenger Charlotte Golunski, who had ventured onto the deck with her partner James and their young daughter, experienced the full force of the storm. Describing the ordeal, she said, “Thunder, lightning, and waves that made our boat dance”—a scene that felt apocalyptic. In the chaos, Golunski and her daughter were thrown into the ocean. “For two seconds I lost my daughter in the sea, then quickly hugged her amid the fury of the waves,” she recounted. “I held her afloat with all my strength, my arms stretched upwards to keep her from drowning.”
In the midst of the storm, a small inflatable emergency raft was deployed. The 15 survivors managed to clamber aboard it as the yacht slipped beneath the waves. They were later rescued by a nearby boater, a beacon of hope amidst the despair.
Authorities are investigating the possibility that the six missing passengers might be trapped within the yacht’s network of cabins. Once a luxurious haven, the submerged cabins now pose a claustrophobic and perilous environment, obstructed by floating debris and gear.
The Bayesian disaster, a tragic turn of events following what should have been a triumphant celebration, underscores the unpredictability of nature and the fragility of human endeavors against its might. As the search continues and questions remain, the story of this ill-fated Mediterranean cruise serves as a somber reminder of life’s unpredictable nature.
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