Mike Lynch superyacht sinking possibly stemmed from design-related vulnerability

The luxury 56-metre (185-foot) Bayesian was struck by a pre-dawn storm on August 19, 2024.

A report into the sinking of a superyacht that killed a British tech tycoon outlined on Thursday how the vessel's design had left it "vulnerable" as it was battered by hurricane-force winds.

The luxury 56-metre (185-foot) Bayesian was struck by a pre-dawn storm on August 19, 2024 as it was anchored off Sicily and sank rapidly, killing Mike Lynch and six others, including his 18-year-old daughter, and the boat's chef.

Lynch, the 59-year-old founder of software firm Autonomy, had invited friends and family onto the yacht to celebrate his recent acquittal in a U.S. fraud case.

The interim report published by a British investigative body Thursday said the vessel might have been "vulnerable" to the winds, especially under a set of conditions which included running on its motor mode and having its sails lowered.

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB), a UK government agency that looks into accidents involving British ships around the world, said wind speeds of around 73 miles (117 kilometres) per hour were enough to knock it over under these conditions, and possibly even in lighter winds.

But it said these "vulnerabilities" were "unknown to either the owner or the crew of Bayesian" as they were not included in an onboard manual.

On the night of the sinking, sudden "hurricane force winds" well over 73 mph knocked the yacht over in under 15 seconds as "people, furniture and loose items fell across the deck", the report said.