Latest news with #JamesCutfield
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Daily Mail
I didn't feel worried before the Bayesian superyacht sank, widow of billionaire tech boss Mike Lynch says
The widow of billionaire tech boss Mike Lynch has told Italian prosecutors she was 'not worried, just curious' when she awoke shortly before their superyacht Bayesian sank during a storm last summer. Angela Bacares, who survived the tragedy off the coast of Sicily – which killed her husband and their 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, along with five others – has described the events of that night for the first time. In a statement issued ahead of the first anniversary of the sinking on August 19, she said she woke around 4am after feeling the £30million vessel 'moving up and down and swaying', and went to an upper deck to find the captain, James Cutfield. Despite Italian coastguards issuing their interim report last week, which blamed 52-year-old New Zealander Mr Cutfield and the crew for the disaster, Ms Bacares, 58, said she had always felt 'reassured' by the crew in bad weather. She revealed that the boat had been caught in a 'really bad storm' near Naples two weeks before without incident. Ms Bacares recalled how, in the early hours of August 19, objects on the boat began to slide around. But she did not think they were in a 'serious situation' and had not thought it necessary to alert the others on board – until 'something catastrophic happened' and everything changed in a moment. She added: 'I think something catastrophic happened to make the boat roll over, but it was all very sudden.' Ms Bacares, who survived the tragedy off the coast of Sicily – which killed her husband and their 18-year-old daughter, Hannah (pictured), along with five others – has described the events of that night for the first time In a statement issued ahead of the first anniversary of the sinking on August 19, Ms Bacares said she woke around 4am after feeling the £30million vessel (pictured) 'moving up and down and swaying', and went to an upper deck to find the captain, James Cutfield The tragedy claimed the lives of Mr Lynch, 59; Hannah; four of their guests and the yacht's chef when the boat was hit by winds in excess of 70mph. Mr Cutfield is under investigation for manslaughter along with engineer Tim Parker Eaton and nightwatchman Matthew Griffiths. All three deny the allegations. In June, The Mail on Sunday revealed experts believed Italian prosecutors were trying to pin the blame on the crew to save the country's yacht-building industry. The UK's Marine Accident Investigation Branch has suggested the design of the yacht was at fault.
RNZ News
21-06-2025
- RNZ News
Tech tycoon Lynch's superyacht Bayesian lifted from water off Sicily coast
By Roberto Mignucci, Reuters Crane ships raise the superyacht Bayesian that sank off Sicily last year, killing British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, his teenage daughter and five others, on 20 June 2025 off Porticello, near Palermo. Photo: Alessandro Fucarini / AFP Salvage experts hauled British tech tycoon Mike Lynch's superyacht from the water and plan to take it to a Sicilian port for inspection, 10 months after it sank off the coast of Sicily, killing Lynch, his teenage daughter and five others. Work had resumed at first light on Saturday (local time), with one of the most powerful maritime cranes in Europe used to haul the 56-metre-long Bayesian from beneath the waves. The Bayesian's upper decks appeared badly damaged while the blue hull was encrusted with mud after it had lain on the seabed at a depth of 50m. Italian authorities in the nearby port of Termini Imerese will have a chance to inspect the luxury yacht next week as they seek clues into a tragedy that has puzzled maritime experts. Italian divers retrieve the body of one of the victims of the Bayesian sinking. Photo: AFP The Bayesian was moored off the small port of Porticello, near Palermo, in August last year when it sank during a sudden storm. The yacht was vulnerable to violent winds and was probably knocked over by gusts of more than 117kmh, an interim British report said last month. Three people, including the New Zealand skipper James Cutfield, are under investigation after the sinking off the coast of Sicily last year. Being investigated in Italy does not imply guilt and does not mean formal charges will follow. The salvage team, led by British company TMC Marine, pumped sea water out of the hull and the vessel was held in an elevated position, surrounded by pollution containment booms, while further checks were carried out. "This was a complex and precise lifting operation to recover Bayesian, and followed a step-by-step programme of salvage work," said Marcus Cave, a director of TMC Marine. Mike Lynch, chief executive of Autonomy Group, on 21 June 2011. File photo. Photo: AFP / Pool / Ben Gurr The plan is for the yacht to be carried to port on Sunday before it is lifted on Monday onto a specially manufactured steel cradle on the quayside. The recovery process has been made easier after the vessel's 72m mast was detached using a remote-controlled cutting tool and placed on the seabed on Tuesday. In addition to Lynch, founder of the software company Autonomy, his daughter Hannah, lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda, banker Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy, and chef Recaldo Thomas were killed when the yacht sank. Nine other crew members and six guests were rescued. - Reuters / RNZ
Times
09-05-2025
- Times
Diver dies as operation to raise the Bayesian superyacht begins
A diver has died as the salvage operation to raise the sunken yacht Bayesian got under way in Sicily on Friday. The Dutch diver was removing objects from the yacht, which lies on the seabed at a depth of 50m, when the fatal incident occurred, a source said. Italian media reported that the 39-year-old diver may have died when the oxygen tank he was using malfunctioned, or he may have been taken ill. The Bayesian sank off the fishing port of Porticello in August during a freak storm, killing the British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, 59, and six others, including his daughter Hannah, 18. Sicilian prosecutors are treating the sinking as suspected manslaughter and have placed the captain, James Cutfield, a New Zealander, and
