Mike Lynch’s Superyacht Latest: Bayesian Captain ‘under investigation’ for manslaughter and sinking

Authorities said the superyacht was hit by a downburst and Italian authorities said they would look into how it might affect a vehicle and not other vessels nearby, according to a translation of the conference.

A downburst is an intense gust of wind at ground level emanating from the strong downdraft of a thunderstorm; the wind often blows radially from a point source, unlike the rotating winds associated with a tornado.

Downbursts typically last only a few minutes and can be particularly dangerous for aviation.

They have been blamed for a number of air crashes over the years, although the risk is usually well predicted by meteorologists, allowing pilots to avoid them.

A court-appointed armed guard tasked with ensuring Mike Lynch does not flee as he faces fraud charges has paid tribute to the tech mogul, saying the security team “has become less of a detail and more like a family”.

Rolo Igno also described “the memory of a beautiful soul” in Mr. Lynch’s daughter Hannah.

Mr. Igno said he had the “privilege” of spending “nearly every waking moment” with Mr. Lynch while he was in custody in San Francisco, describing it as unlike anything he had ever done and “life-changing.”

“As an executive protection officer, rule number one is simple: Never approach the principal,” he said.

“They are not friends, they are clients and the relationship is strictly professional. But with Mike, it didn’t work out and for me, that rule quickly disappeared.”

Autonomy, the software company that Mike Lynch sold for £8.64bn in 2011, was a pioneer in business data analytics, using machine learning and what Mr Lynch called “adaptive pattern recognition”.

At the heart of his software was a statistical method called “Bayesian inference,” devised by 18th-century mathematician Thomas Bayes.

The name of the yacht, Bayesianrefers to the same model that was at the heart of Autonomy’s – and Mr. Lynch’s – success.

Once dubbed the “British Bill Gates”, Mike Lynch and his wife Angela Bacares were valued at £852 million in 2023 by the Sunday Times Rich List.

The 59-year-old tech mogul is known for founding Invoke Capital and Autonomy Corporation and made headlines after being cleared of charges in a high-profile fraud case.

My colleague Barney Davis has more details:

The sinking of the 56-meter yacht Bayesian and the tragic deaths of British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and his guests and crew on the boat have given the public a glimpse into the rarefied world of superyachts, writes International BoatL Lucy Dunn.

From the size of the mast (74 meters, roughly the size of seven two-story houses stacked on top of each other) to the cost (Bayesian Listed in 2014 with an asking price of $30 million, or around £23 million, in absolute luxury (the interiors were designed by Remi Tessier, the designer behind Claridge’s new penthouse), it’s a world few people normally get to see.

There are currently 12,626 superyachts at sea in the world, with 1,166 under construction or on order. If you’ve visited a Greek island this year, or perhaps the Amalfi Coast, you may have spotted them coming and going from ports and wondered who owns a yacht like that. Or who can afford to charter a yacht like that, which has an average price of around £180,000 per week.

If you think about influencers and celebrities, the superyacht fraternity is where millionaires are differentiated from billionaires and centi-billionaires, the 0.001 percent. You will rarely find a celebrity with the financial clout to afford a yacht owned by Lynch. They are usually industry titans who fly under the radar and are not known to the general public.

So what makes a superyacht truly super? According to Boat International, where I work, this can apply to any boat, motor yacht or sailing yacht, over 24 metres in length. In the world of superyachts, size is everything – and yachts are getting bigger all the time.

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Recaldo Thomas was the superyacht’s chef and the first person confirmed dead.

The Canadian national from Antigua was found by the Italian coastguard near the sunken boat. A friend of Mr Thomas, who asked not to be named, said the boating community was saddened by his death.

She said The Independent: “He was a one-of-a-kind human being. Incredibly talented, with an infectious smile and laugh, an incredible voice, and a deep love for the ocean and the moon. I spoke to him almost every day. He loved his life, his friends, and his work.”

James Cutfield, the 51-year-old New Zealand national who was the captain of the Bayesian, is being investigated for possible manslaughter and culpable shipwreck, said lawyer Aldo Mordiglia, one of two lawyers appointed to defend the captain.

Mr. Cutfield, who has already been questioned, will be questioned again by prosecutors on Tuesday, Mordiglia said.

Under Italian law, being under investigation does not imply guilt and does not necessarily lead to criminal charges.

Chief prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio confirmed on Saturday that an investigation had been opened and that his team would examine every possible element of responsibility, including that of the captain, the crew, those in charge of surveillance and the yacht’s builder.