Search for Mike Lynch: 'Unanswered questions' as search continues for missing holidaymakers

“What we’re looking at is a black swan event. A series of unprecedented, a word I don’t use lightly, events led up to this.”

There are an “awful lot of unanswered questions” about how a £15 million superyacht could sink like this, says Matthew Schanck, chair of the Maritime Search and Rescue Council.

[chickenofthecave]

Considering his co defendant got killed i believe yesterday, makes me think something is wrong with this story. Just doesn't add up to me.

[alaninglesfield]

My heart goes out to these people god bless them and there familys

[idavidmcclune]

So, all the missing are connected with the court case where Mr Lynch was acquitted. All the rest and unconnected people escaped. Ok with the exception of Mr Lynch's wife who just happens to own the boat and the chef who seems to have been unlucky to have died while escaping. 16 of 21 people were on deck and got out. 5 were trapped in cabins. Cabins that can't be accessed.

And Mr Lynch's co-accused was killed on Saturday.

I am not one for conspiracy theories but if this is just chance, the universe is one seriously strange place.

[dnicholsoncole]

I am a past yachtsman and I can tell you two things. First of all as the tallest Bermuda sloop in the world possibly, it has an excessively tall mast and a yacht that size should be a ketch with two shorter masts, with a much reduced turning moment on the hull. Secondly, in the lovely Sicilian evening temperature all the hatches and doors would’ve been left open during the night so water can pour in . That boat is unsinkable if the hatches are closed.

[BwInNewJersey]

Imagine thinking how great life your life is on a yacht off the Italian coast to sheer terror. Sad.

[pyrsartur]

The mast was too tall for a storm like that. The design may have won awards, but they were blind to its flaws. No reason for a mast that talk except vanity.

[lianewilliams]

I have a question - if the depth was 50 meters why was the keel raised ?

[SteveJones-gzvd]

Some very high profile people like Morgan Stanley Int. Chairman still missing so Sad.

[johnwright]

To say that there is something very strange about this is a huge understatement.

[JN-omrw]

The bottom keel board was in the up position - so stability was greatly reduced in addition she was top heavy with the extra fulcrum of the mast length 72 meters and then the storm just toppled it over ..

[williamlloyd]

eSysmanSuperYachts YouTube video on this sinking also pointed out that the yacht had a unique feature in that the keel could be raised up into the hull to decrease the draft of the sailing vessel from 10 meters to 4 meters. If the keel was in the raised position to allow anchoring closer to shore, it would have been more susceptible to being knocked down.
RIP

[Millpond_Vale]

Theory: buffeted by the stormy seas and a tornado, the yacht rolled violently allowing water to enter a hull opening, possibly a tender's garage door or an engine's hull mounted air intake or exhaust, causing uncontrollable flooding into the engine room; probably the largest compartment on the vessel below the waterline. Further hull rolling generated a free-surface effect by the water in the engine room. The sudden shifting of tons of water from one side of the hull to the other caused a heel past what is known as deck-edge immersion. At that point uncontrolled flooding of the vessel would occur through open hatches in decks and open doorways into passageways. A hull heeling past 90 degrees from upright would be virtually impossible to escape from, via ladders and stairways, to the upper-deck. It would have happened fast leaving very little time for those below decks to attempt an escape. A very very sad ending for them. The mast theory doesn't add up and is an uneducated media's attempt at solving the mystery. If it was the mast the vessel would almost certainly have capsized when under sail. The force on sails full of wind is counteracted by the keel. Seeing as the yacht was at anchor the sails would have been furled but the keel would still counteract the heeling moment on the mast which would have been quite negligible.

[HillbillyIslandLife]

The Tornado/Waterspout should be easy to spot on DOPLER RADAR if it

[bluelou]

i just heard Mike Lynch's co accused was killed in a car accident days ago also

[RScup]

Titanic was supposed to be unsinkable as well. We allways underestimate the power of nature.

[peterrees]

These questions are not unanswered. Most likely they had their retracting keel up. The vessel has the second largest mast in the world. Reduced ballast and freak conditions could easily combine to send the vessel to the bottom. My 0.02c supported by a Naval Architect.

[rodwallace]

At anchor a sailing vessel pulls up its keel which contains weighty ballast
that gives the yacht stability when at sea. The mast is one of the tallest
made and could easily serve as a drag in high winds to take the Bayesian down. If it
tips to 90 degrees, water will pour into any open hatch (on a warm night)
and sinks the vessel in moments.
It was about 05:00. The guest cabins are forward.

[nicoladelglyn]

All crew will be under NDA's they will not be able to give any information. My daughter is crew on a super yacht in the region and there have been, as always, been many storms. Her boat is currently anchored in a secluded bay and many boats have hunkered down in port with gusts of 80mph winds due to hit. Safety is utmost and all crew are trained to deal with this. My daughter has had comprehensive training & all yachts she has worked on the Captains & Snr members have debriefed on safety & emergency procedures and that is logged in their log book, as are how many hours they are at sea & duties etc. Unlike some "experts" have suggested there is always at least one person on watch during the night and shifts may change too to prevent fatigue. The boat should've shown an anchor ball and 2 all-round white lights to highlight the position. The whole boat is not asleep as there are instances where pirating can happen especially in certain waters & weather conditions can change which is usually picked up on the incredibly sophisticated satellite systems. Interestingly the yacht didn't secure its position as anchored on the GPS which was either forgotten or the boat was moving? This is always logged. All very odd? Ultimately something catastrophic happened otherwise why would a wife & mother leave her loved ones & escape? Crew members are duty bound to ensure guests are woken, given life jackets & are accounted for so something was amiss? Important to remember that this yacht has travelled through raging Atlantic seas unscathed?

[jeff]

Was the keel retractable? If the the keel was retracted with this size mast, stability in a tornado would be questionable

[intraxtv]

A waterspout ? Yeah right ! Submarine maybe ?