Mike Lynch Boat Latest: Divers Smash Through the Window with Crucial Hours in Bayesian Search

Regalto Thomas, understood to be the superyacht’s chef, is pictured after the Bayesian drowned.

The Palermo Port Authority told Canadian broadcaster CBC News that the body of Mr Thomas, a Canadian-born man who lived in Antigua, had been recovered from the wreckage.

Gareth Williams, a friend of the chef, told the BBC: “I can speak for everyone who knew him when I say he was a well-loved, quiet, kind man.”

Friends are paying tribute to him on social media. I don’t know what to say other than I love you and I always will.

Another wrote: “Gonna miss you so much, Regalto Thomas still having a hard time believing this.”

This information has been confirmed by the Italian Coast Guard Sky News.

Emergency crews trying to access a submerged Bayesian yacht face “a big choice” as rescue efforts intensify, an ocean diving and wreck expert has said.

Bertrand Skibos told BBC News: “I think 50 meters is the limit for diving with a certain type of professional diver, so you have to dive with some kind of helmet and snorkel and be attached to the surface for oxygen and to talk and hear and tell what you’re seeing and doing.

“It’s always very difficult, especially on a sailing ship, because you’ve got rope everywhere, you’ve got a sail floating in the current, because we’re in the Mediterranean, not in the English Channel.

“But the point is, you know, in situations like this, it’s very difficult to get into the wreck, and they have to make a big choice in an instant, save or salvage the entire wreck. The bodies.”

Bayesian plunged after the “storm of violence” hit. The Italian Coast Guard said bad weather had been forecast but was more severe than expected. Some local residents spoke of a water or sea cyclone of exceptional force. The Bayesian was anchored, its sails down, when the storm hit, and another boat stood nearby.

A nearby boat, the 42-metre Sir Robert Baden Powell, anchored and faced the storm after its captain turned on the engine to keep control of the vessel and avoid a collision with the Bayesian. The captain, Carsten Boerner, said he did not know if Bayesian’s crew was able to operate its engines. “I know they went flat with the mast in the water and they sank in two minutes,” he said.

Andrea Rutti, professor of marine design at the Polytechnic University of Milan, said that a Bayesian scaled boat would only sink too fast if one or more holes, windows or other openings were broken or took on too much water. broken by the current.

There is also media speculation that a large hatch may have been inadvertently left open. However, fire department diver Marco Dilotta told Il Messaggero newspaper that the wreck was “apparently intact” – although only half of the hull was visible to divers.

An industry expert in Britain said it must have taken hours for the Bayesian to fill with enough water to sink, making its rapid demise unfathomable.

Bayesian was built in 2008 by Perini Navi, which claims to have the world’s tallest aluminum mast at 72 meters. However, Ruttie and a second expert, structural engineer Filippo Matteoni, said the unusually tall mast was not a vulnerable element in a storm. Both were skeptical of the theory that the broken mast caused the damage against the hull, as the boat would not have capsized if it had.

The Bayesian had a retractable keel – helping to stabilize the boats and acting as a counterweight to the mast. Both Rutdy and Mathioni wondered if the boat’s keel was anchored up, reducing its depth under water and reducing its stability. According to Rutdy, the boat may have started swinging wildly under strong winds, causing exceptional strain in the mast. But even if it led to the breakup, he said, “it’s not enough to justify the sinking.”

Prosecutors in the nearby town of Termini Imeris have launched an investigation into the disaster. Their case may take months to complete.

Neighbors of Mike Lynch said they were “honestly horrified” when they learned he was missing after his boat capsized in the storm.

Ruth Lee, from Pettistree, Suffolk, said she knew Bayesian ran in the family, but when she heard the news, she said: “I couldn’t believe it, I thought it couldn’t be right.”

The 57-year-old writer and author added: “It’s terrible, it’s bad news.”

They have been neighbors for about 15 years, “since the beginning [Mr Lynch] He was a wonderful neighbor.”

“Even though he was incredibly wealthy and a very important person, he never gave that impression,” Ms Lee said.

“Whenever he met you, he would always remember your name, he would chat with you, incredibly friendly and down to earth, which we thought was a great quality. He was a good neighbor.

Mike Lynch’s neighbor Ruth Lee said the boss was “very charitable” and would speak at the village church on Remembrance Sunday.

Mrs Leek, of Pettistree, Suffolk, said: “You would see him driving by and he would always wave and say hello and use your name.

“Once a year he would have a party on the lawn and we would all go to it.

“He’s a very good man. I know it’s a bit trite, but by every right a man he could have been too high, but he wasn’t, he was involved.

“On Remembrance Sunday he would come and speak at the church in the village.

“He was a very charitable man, he gave a lot of time and effort, which was good. We had an incredibly high opinion of him.

Mike Lynch, 59, is one of the UK’s top tech entrepreneurs. He created Autonomy, the country’s largest software company, and was referred to as Britain’s Bill Gates.

He sold the company to HP in 2011 for $11 billion (£8.64 billion), after which the US tech giant accused him of defrauding the deal in spectacular fashion, resulting in a lengthy investigation. Mr Lynch was eventually acquitted by a jury in San Francisco in June.

Mr Lynch faces more than 20 years in a US prison if convicted of fraud and conspiracy charges.