UK Tech Entrepreneur Mike Lynch Among Missing In Sicily Yacht Sinking (theguardian.com) 46
Longtime Slashdot reader whoever57 writes: A powerful storm sank the "Bayesian," a superyacht that was carrying Mike Lynch and some guests. In total, there is one confirmed death and another six missing, including Mike lynch and his daughter. It is believed that the yacht is effectively owned by Lynch. The 56-meter yacht had an aluminum hull and could carry 12 guests and a crew of up to 10. "Lynch co-founded Autonomy, a software firm that became one of the shining lights of the UK tech scene, in the mid-90s," notes The Guardian. "Once described as Britain's Bill Gates, Lynch spent much of the last decade in court defending his name against allegations of fraud related to the sale of Autonomy to the U.S. tech company Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion. The 59-year-old was acquitted by a jury in San Francisco in June, after he had spent more than a year living in effect under house arrest."
"He was awarded an OBE for services to enterprise in 2006, and appointed in 2011 to the science and technology council of the then prime minister, David Cameron. He was elected as a fellow to the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2008 and the Royal Society in 2014."
UPDATE 8/21/24: Authorities have recovered the bodies of former Autonomy CEO Mike Lynch and his teenage daughter Hannah. Lynch's wife, Angela Bacares, was rescued at sea and is recovering.
"He was awarded an OBE for services to enterprise in 2006, and appointed in 2011 to the science and technology council of the then prime minister, David Cameron. He was elected as a fellow to the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2008 and the Royal Society in 2014."
UPDATE 8/21/24: Authorities have recovered the bodies of former Autonomy CEO Mike Lynch and his teenage daughter Hannah. Lynch's wife, Angela Bacares, was rescued at sea and is recovering.
Re: oops we another billionaire! (Score:5, Funny)
Oops you another word in your headline
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If only we could put his money to as good a use as his body.
Spelling (Score:5, Insightful)
Since he was British, I would say the boat was made of Aluminium
Re:Spelling (Score:5, Funny)
Somehow Lynch didn't know of the fraud? (Score:5, Interesting)
Articles don't mention the legal cases that Autonomy lost: "...the now-former chief exec argued during his trial that he was just the tech and marketing guy, a smart and savvy entrepreneur rather than a master manipulator of finance... In 2022, HPE – which inherited the civil litigation after HP split into HPE and HP Inc – prevailed in that British civil case and is presently seeking $4 billion in damages... The Feds in 2017 indicted Hussain [Autonomy CFO] on fraud charges and secured a conviction in 2018. He was sentenced to five years in prison the following year and was released in January, 2024 having served his time." https://www.theregister.com/20... [theregister.com]
how did it sink? (Score:4, Interesting)
A 56 meter boat sank? That thing is a whopper. Apparently a waterspout passed directly across it (incredibly unlucky) but it seems like that would have stripped off the mast and other topside features at most. Its a sailboat so it would have a heavy keel to keep it upright.
An observer in a nearby boat said; The other boat “went flat on the water, and then down”. Sounds like it broached and the interior filled with water, but its hard to imagine with a boat that size.
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According to one article I saw, the fact that it was anchored contributed to its capsize.
Also, keels break. This looks like a fairly new boat, so perhaps unlikely. Let's see what reports the divers bring back.
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The factor that it was anchored wouldn’t be an issue. But being at anchor very likely means that the boat was not configured for sea and so had hatches and windows open, that you would never be open whilst at sea.
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They have already sent divers down to search for bodies.
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You're familiar with "security theatre"? Well that's "S&R theatre".
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I am not sure what your point is: they sent divers down. Divers found bodies. It would be crazy not to have some divers take a quick look at the keel.
How is recovering bodies "theater"?
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Reports from other sources have given vastly discrepant figures for the details of the wreck location, and the diving involved, to the initial reports. What footage I've seen of the Fire Service divers (huge single tanks ; no umbilicals, tender ropes, or bail-out bottles) seems more appropriate to a much shallower dive than the 100m (and 10 minutes bottom time) previously reported. But to put it in context ; they also had a po
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why would they risk the lives of divers going to investigate it?
To understand whether the boat sank because of a design or maintenance flaw that could affect other vessels, and potentially save lives in the future?
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Which in itself is an argument why going on a "super-ego yacht" whose systems are first-and-only-of-a-kind would not make for a restful night's sleep.
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Re:how did it sink? (Score:4, Insightful)
The boat had the world largest in mast furling main sail, which promptly snapped in the storm. My guess was this made the boat top heavy and the wind was strong enough to push it over based on just the force on the mast. The reports say it was listing for a few minutes before sinking, so I guess the guests had their windows open and it flooded.
Those who got out of bed, had enough time to make it out on to the deck and survived. The chief was lost, six guests are missing, but he rest of the crew knew it was time to evacuate.
Re:how did it sink? (Score:4, Interesting)
This article has some details and speculations;
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news... [msn.com]
The mast was 278ft tall. From that article;
A yacht industry source told The Times that the vessel sank after the weight of her mast took the hull beyond its “down-flooding angle” – the point at which a boat cannot right itself after swinging at a steep angle – meaning water rushed over the sides into the interior.
“The wind toppled the mast, which fell over the side, causing the boat to heel over and take on water, capsize and sink very quickly,” the source said.
But then another expert "expressed some scepticism, saying sailing yachts are designed to prevent that from happening".
Re:how did it sink? (Score:4, Funny)
But then another expert "expressed some scepticism, saying sailing yachts are designed to prevent that from happening".
And the Titanic was designed to be unsinkable.
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Apparently the boat had a retractable keel, and that may not have been deployed. Also it looks like they didn't follow appropriate procedures for the storm, possibly because they were complacent;
"Standard procedure in such storms, he said, is to switch on the engine, lift the anchor and turn the boat into the wind, lowering the keel for extra stability, closing doors and gathering the guests in the main hall inside the deck."
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/0... [nytimes.com]
Re:how did it sink? (Score:4, Interesting)
The draft (the deepest part of the boat) was 9.83m or 32.25 feet. That is DEEP. I don't have a diagram of the boat, but odds are there is a very very heavy lead weight at the bottom of the keel (the part that reaches WAY down deep to act as a massive counter weight and help the boat sail upwind).
https://www.yachtcharterfleet.... [yachtcharterfleet.com]
The boat should have been very stable. Even in extreme conditions. However, if they hit something and the keel fell off, she would easily flip right over. Loosing a mast shouldn't sink her. It would make being on deck potentially very dangerous.
The other obvious option is somehow she flooded. Ripped a hole in the hull? She weighed 473 gross tons. That is heavy. Fill her with water and she'll sink like a rock. Boats are designed to survive hull punctures - especially in the bow or front of the boat. The crew had all the bulkheads open?
RIP.
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I was under the impression that DU (Depleted Uranium) was the ideal metal for such counterweights. With a density of around 19 g/cc, it's got a lot higher weight: drag ratio than the corresponding lead part.
Of course, there are always the "uggh! radioactive!" fear mongers. But when it is performance on the line, the uranium wins.
Co-defendant killed two days earlier. (Score:5, Interesting)
In other news Lynch’s co-defendant was killed on Saturday after he was rundown by a car whilst out running.
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I was thinking it's kinda hard to fake a waterspout. But it's much easier to fake a single eyewitness report of a waterspout.
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I get killing one guy, but to kill presumably six? It's not like he was whistleblowing on Boeing or something. ;-)
Re: Co-defendant killed two days earlier. (Score:2)
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I thought you were joking, but you really weren't.
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/0... [cnn.com].
This does indeed look a lot more suspicious. Waterspout or no waterspout
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Doesn't look suspicious ...
From the article:
If someone was paid to kill him, they would have planned it in a way that they would not get caught.
About the yacht, Lynch is missing, presumed dead, as well as his teen daughter.
His wife was rescued.
If he wanted to make it look like he died, it would be planned differently.
And he w
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1. i agree, 49 year old women driving cars staying behind at the scene of accidents does not look like a suspicious science
2. I wasn’t, however, implying he staged his own death, more that there was a possibility that someone who lost an awful lot of money on the HP acquisition of Autonomy had at least motive and almost certainly the means to organise assassinations. Assassinations do, after all, actually happen from time to time. But I agree, they don’t typically look much like this.
Profile ... (Score:2)
Here is a profile of Mike Lynch from the BBC [bbc.com].
His company was doing Bayesian stuff, and the yacht was called Bayesian ...
Bayesian (Score:2)
Should have used better priors.
New BBC update available. (Score:2)
Just got an update from the BBC: The Bayesian's sister ship Titanic is also missing.
Too soon?
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He wasn't by any chance about to blow the (Score:2)
So, who was it? (Score:2)
Was it HP getting even, or did he not pay his attorneys and they had to whack him?
Minus points for going after his family...
Co-defendant dead too! (Score:2)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/art... [bbc.co.uk]
The co-defendant of British tech tycoon Mike Lynch - who is currently missing in Italy - has died after being hit by a car, his lawyer said.
Stephen Chamberlain, 52, was Mr Lynch's co-defendant in his US fraud trial in which both men were acquitted following the $11bn (£8.64bn) sale of the software giant Autonomy.
Mr Chamberlain died after being hit by a car while out running in Cambridgeshire on Saturday and his family has now paid tribute to him.
Sadly... (Score:1)