Billionaire or humble steward, old or young, ragged refugee skiff or luxury superyacht, the sea again demonstrates she doesn’t care & takes them all the same.
“The sea is selective, slow at recognition of effort and aptitude, but fast in sinking the unfit.”
A rig that big (75m) pushes the boundaries. If it failed at (say) the spreaders, whatever gets hit by what’s coming down - stays hit. Downflooding assisted by all that ballast makes for a quick end.
Here’s what a 60m mainmast on a 64m ketch looks like…
This articles does a good job of describing how the mast probably played a big part in the sinking & discusses the weather conditions.
Thanks, don’t usually look at the Torygraph, and its paywalled.
But as I said (and being familiar with Perinis) that would be my expectation
It looks like you are probably correct. A 20+ story mast might not have been the best idea? But the Torygraph isn’t charging me, probably because of my location & ip address. Here’s the image.
I’ve read erratic & sometimes conflicting remarks about being knocked flat, righting, followed by rig folding.
Wrong place, wrong time.
Who needs a rig bigger than Panamax (60m)?
All other big rigs (eg Mirabella V) are carbon.
was reading about this in the financial times Subscribe to read
and aside from the maritime aspect of this accident i found this piece of the article interesting…
“The yacht incident came on the same day as the death was confirmed of Lynch’s co-defendant in the US fraud case, Stephen Chamberlain, who was hit by a car in Cambridgeshire.”
Hold on to our tin-foil hats…Conspiracy theories are guaranteed.
Ken Lay was killed by a stationary tree weeks before his appointment with the judge overseeing his retirement home plans at Club Fed for millionaires. Maybe Neptune & the Tree God are working together against those so rich they slip through the cracks.
The ‘Baynesian’ anchored off Porticello at around 20::00 UTC the evening before the disaster.
Another sail yacht, ‘Sir Robert Baden Powell‘, an old classic one (1958, two masts, about 40 meters) was at anchor nearby to NW. Two men from this yacht came over in a small craft, when the ‘Baynesian’ disappeared, to save the swimming people.
The wind, after midnight until the disaster, was WNW 10/15 knots at large, at the protected anchorage 2/3 knots. However, there was this singular villain waterspout inside, probably invisible during the night.
The water temperature was about 30°C, the air temp at about 26°C (maybe this influences the strength of the waterspout).
I have seen many waterspouts, but never what they could do on boats or ships.
The Baynesian’s course to the anchorage and after the anchor could not hold her anymore.
The Good Samaritan (as ‘Sir Robert B P’) is anchored just to NW… and stayed there.
After drifting away:
The first direction arrow is at 01:59 UTC, speed 1.3kn
The second arrow is at 02:03, speed 2.6kn
The last AIS signal is at 02:05, speed 2.6kn
A few from that company have passed away since the court case.
Calm down everyone. The cause has been found. You knew it, didn’t you?
(Copied from The Telegraph)
10:45AM
Climate change contributed to the weather that caused Bayesian to sink, claims expert
Prof Mercalli, one of Italy’s leading climate experts, said climate change had contributed to the weather phenomenon that caused the boat to sink.
He said: “The sea surface temperature around Sicily was about 30 degrees, which is almost three degrees higher than normal. That creates a huge source of energy that contributes to these storms.
“We can’t say this is all due to climate change, but we can say it has an amplifying effect.”
Prof Mercalli said the sinking of Mike Lynch’s luxury yacht was similar to the boating tragedy in which four people were killed on Lake Maggiore in northern Italy in May 2023.
10:39AM
Leading climate expert says crew should have paid more attention to weather warnings
Luca Mercalli, one of Italy’s leading climate experts and president of the Italian Meteorological Society, said the crew of the Bayesian should have paid more attention to the weather warnings issued by Italian authorities before the tragedy occurred.
While noting the tornado that occurred off Sicily’s coast was not predictable, Professor Mercalli told The Telegraph the authorities had issued a “yellow” then a moderate weather alert and the crew should have been more vigilant of the changing weather conditions despite the darkness.
Prof Mercalli said: “I don’t know if there was anyone on board consulting the radar.
“Let’s say that if I had been on board, at the first sign of a thunderstorm I would have woken up all the occupants and been ready and alert with life jackets on until the storm was over.”
He said weather radar made it possible to estimate within 15 to 30 minutes the arrival of an intense thunderstorm, even though it is impossible to know if the wind intensity will reach dangerous levels.
Note: Please advise in replies the number of times you have mustered the entire crew and passengers with lifejackets on at the first sign of a thunderstorm. Surely everybody just does that as standard procedure?
[Comment may not make complete sense to non-SUNY Maritime types] I have always thought “mugs” should be made to memorize that quote (from an alumni and superintendent of the school) and not the so-called “sallyport saying.” (I don’t recall the quote exactly, it’s from Stonewall Jackson and the gist is that junior officers must blindly obey superiors without question).
We did…at least 20 years ago. I don’t know what they learn now, but I agree with you.
I heard they tried doing away with that, as it’s a quote from a Confederate General. This was back during the hectic Summer of ‘20 when they also said the Fort was racist because of its namesake being a slaveowner.
Fort Schuyler is still Fort Schuyler, so I’d have to imagine the MUGS still learn/memorize the Sallyport Saying, among others.
I’d do away with it only because it’s not appropriate. I doubt it’s being used in any BRM courses…
Family boat and the sleeping owner is your boss…tough decision
Pretty sure the radar would be left on and maybe on the captains tv in his cabin?
Couldnt know about the wind till it hit you especially if there was no rain in the wind blast so no movement on the radar to see
Statements made by experts should be evaluated depending upon whether they are speaking within or outside of their area of expertise
With regards to vessel operations the professor was outside his area of expertise.