sailboat mast humming

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Humming Mast

• Thread starter CharlotteRusse
• Start date 1 Jun 2004

CharlotteRusse

Does anybody else's mast hum? In light winds, the kind often experienced at night whilst trying to sleep, my mast (Moody 29) sets up a low resonance that sounds a little like a squadron of lancasters going overhead (probably). This hum transmits itself through the coach roof and rigging and generally makes a blumin nuisance of itself. It was so bad on Saturday night at Newtown Creek that I could swear I saw several of my neighboring anchorers looking quizically skywards! Any ideas? <hr width=100% size=1>  

Well-known member

Are you sure it's the mast? On my boat it's the topping lift if it's tight. It took several years to discover the cause but now I slacken the mainsheet a little at night. <hr width=100% size=1><font color=purple>Ne te confundant illegitimi.</font color=purple>  

Possibly the rigging resonating, do you have an adjustable backstay that you can take the tension off slightly at night? Failing that, try hanging some washing /forums/images/icons/smile.gif (towels e.t.c) on the rigging so that they dampen out the resonance. <hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://shop.yachtronics.co.uk>http://shop.yachtronics.co.uk</A>  

As VicS says, almost certainly the topping lift, loosen the mainsheet and sleep tight. <hr width=100% size=1>I really would rather be sailing...  

Yup, Topping lift on mine too, Slacken off the mainsheet till it goes away. <hr width=100% size=1>  

snowleopard

Active member.

other boats with my type of mast get a loud whistle when the wind strikes the sail track slot at a particular angle, the designer ended up issuing a strip of cloth with two boltropes 1 inch apart to be hoisted up the groove when it happened. funnily enough, mine doesn't have that trouble, perhaps due to slightly different shape of trailing edge. when it happens, you might try interfering with the air flow over any holes in the mast: tape, string, bits of cloth etc until you find something that affects the noise <hr width=100% size=1>  

Under certain specific conditions, my mast not only hums, it actually shakes. very disturbing as I sleep with my head adjacent to the strongback under the tabernacle /forums/images/icons/crazy.gif <hr width=100% size=1>  

• Bodach na mara

Mine hums as well and the one on my last boat had a deep whistle! The hum on my present boat is not the topping lift but the roller genoa halyard, which I don't really want to slacken. The whistle was the mast acting like a giant flute when a certain strength of wind blew at a certain angle across the slots fer the rigging. <hr width=100% size=1>Ken Johnson  

Interesting. I shall give that a try next time it happens. That may explain why it comes and goes - obviously I don't always have the mainsheet at the same tension. <hr width=100% size=1>  

Nope, but my swing keel hums when sailing - any one got that one sussed? Chris <hr width=100% size=1>  

I actually quite like it when that happens, but if you finish the trailing edge off at 60 degrees (to the centre line) that should get rid of it. Confuses the vortices which roll off the edge alternately, promoting a vibration of the trailing edge... <hr width=100% size=1>my opinion is complete rubbish, probably.<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1> Edited by boatless on 02/06/2004 13:53 (server time). </FONT></P>  

It is quite often a piece of the rigging, on mine it was the topping lift. Loosening the sheeting did not solve it, however tieing a rope from the topping lift to the rail did ! <hr width=100% size=1>  

John_Clarke

As well as easing the mainsheet check the kicking strap is slack. <hr width=100% size=1>  

Hi! Loosening the mainsheet will not always cure the problem if it is, as others have suggested, and I suspect, the topping lift. To effect a definite cure, take the end of your mainsheet (or any similar size rope) tie a rolling hitch on the topping lift and slide it up as far as you can comfortably reach. Leave the rest hanging. This acts as a dampener and will entirely eliminate the noise. You do not have to ease the mainsheet at all using this method, so the humming noise is not replaced by the boom swinging from side to side and possibly creaking! Sleep well!! Good sailing! <hr width=100% size=1>  

It might be the topping lift - try tieing a j cloth to the topping lift a couple of feet up from the boom. Sounds daft I know, but it works on my Vega George <hr width=100% size=1>  

A humming topping lift drives me crazy as I generally can't remember the words. <hr width=100% size=1>  

My topping lift sings too! However, we use a boom strut at rest so the topping lift can be slackened off or taken to the mast. <hr width=100% size=1>  

Yes its a happy little hum, I think I'll keep it. Thankyou Chris <hr width=100% size=1>  

that is the keel cable either keel not down all the way, either way, it is the cable, loosen it to remove hum... <hr width=100% size=1>  

Not neccesarily, my Laser did it and MGC27s do it, and they have a threaded rod. <hr width=100% size=1>my opinion is complete rubbish, probably.  

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How To: Sailboat Mast Climbing Guide

Last Updated by

June 15, 2022

Climbing your sailboat mast can be an easy and enjoyable activity. With the right equipment and information you will successfully be able to access all exterior parts of your mast. In this guide, I will teach you how to climb your mast with confidence. As with so many activities on a boat, safety must be your top priority when climbing your mast.

Regardless of your crew situation, the equipment necessary to safely climb your mast is basically the same: two halyards, a bosun's chair, and some form of harness. You can be hoisted by crew or ascend using an ascension device. The particular equipment you choose is up to your preference and budget.

Sailors die every year from improper climbing techniques. By doing your due diligence, you will be ready to safely climb your mast. Ascending your mast is not the time for cursory preparation, so you must double up on all safety equipment. Redundancy is key. Don't put yourself in a position where a single failure of equipment could mean your death.

I have been up my sailboat mast half a dozen times and have never felt unsafe or afraid while aloft. By always following thorough safety precautions and having solid communication with my crew, I actually enjoy going up the mast. It gives me perspective of my vessel and the surrounding area that is normally out of view. I hope this guide helps you enjoy your first time climbing your sailboat mast, as well.

I am not an expert on climbing sailboat masts. I do not know the condition or quality of your equipment. It is your responsibility to ensure your safety and the safety of your crew. This is solely a guide to help you feel better informed on this topic.

Table of contents

The Crewed Climber

The most basic way to climb a mast is to have a crew member crank you up using a winch. This method requires you to have a crew member on board with the brawn and willingness to do that job. If you are lucky enough to have a beefy, willing crew member then this section is for you.

Primary Safety Equipment (w/Crew)

• Bosun's Chair
• Main Halyard

Your primary safety equipment will consist of a bosun's chair  (or equivalent) connected to a halyard. Ideally the halyard will be one that does not have a free-standing block at the top of the mast. Your main halyard will likely be your best option for your primary line.

Feed your primary line through your bosun's chairs double d-rings and secure using a bowline knot. Tying your halyard to your bosun's chair will eliminate possible failure at the halyard shackle.

Once you have tied your primary line to your bosun's chair using a bowline knot, clip the halyard shackle to the d-rings as a redundant safety measure.

Prior to using your bosun's chair, be sure to read the instruction manual for your particular model so that you are properly secured within the chair.

Secondary Safety Equipment (w/Crew)

• Secondary line

On my sailboat, my husband and I have climbing harnesses that we use as backup to our bosun's chair. A foul weather harness will work for this application as well.

Put on the harness prior to getting into the bosun's chair. Just as with the primary line, use a bowline knot to secure the second halyard to your harness. On my sailboat, I use the spinnaker halyard as my secondary line. You may have a line better suited for the job such as a removable topping lift.

Which Winch?

Now that you have your primary and secondary gear set up, it's time to deal with the working end of your primary and secondary lines.

Due to the variation in block, winch, and cleat locations from boat to boat, it is difficult to give exact directions for how to set up your lines. On board my vessel we use the main halyard as our primary line. The main halyard runs out of our lower mast, through several blocks and back to our cockpit. We run the primary line back to our starboard jib sheet winch because it is self-tailing and has two speeds. Our secondary line runs back to the port jib sheet winch.

In this method it is necessary for both winches to be self-tailing.

Whichever line you choose to use as your primary line, you will need to find as unobstructed a path as possible for that line to join with your winch. Use blocks as needed to create a chafe-free path for your primary.

Every time I have climbed our mast, my husband has been below at the winch. Even though we use a winch that is self tailing, whenever possible we have a friend tailing the primary line. This additional safety precaution prevents line slippage and a possible accident.

The Hoisting Begins

You now have your harness on with your secondary line attached and you are in the bosun's chair with the primary line attached. It's time to test the system's strength. First, have your winch handler take out any slack in the primary line while you stand with knees bent at the mast base. Have your mate cleat off the primary line. Then, test the strength of it all by bouncing a few times in the bosun's chair.

It might seem silly bouncing around in the bosun's chair just above the deck, but it sure makes me feel better knowing that I have already put more stress on the system than I will at any other point during my climb.

Feeling confident that all systems are go, your crew member will begin cranking on the winch from the cockpit. Being raised up the mast can take a while. Be sure to wear shoes and gloves so that if you decide to assist in your ascension, you don't end up with paint slivers in your hands and feet.

Your crew member will crank you up a few feet at a time or perhaps a few inches at a time, depending on their vigor. Every time they pause on the primary winch, they will pull in slack on the secondary. They must secure the primary line prior to attending to the secondary. This will ensure that if your primary fails you will only drop a short distance onto your secondary line.

Once you have reached your working point on your mast, your crew member below will cleat off both lines. Your winch handler will surely feel like it's nap time but their job isn't over yet. While you're working, be sure your crew member stays attentive in case you realize you don't have the necessary tools for the job or you are ready to descend.

I have been at the top of my mast only to realize that I need a flat head instead of a Phillips, or electrical tape, or a multimeter. It's beyond frustrating to be at the top of the mast and realize that you forgot something or don't have what you need.

To save the arms of your cranking crewmember, bring a long piece of string in the pocket of your bosons chair. If you realize you need an additional tool, you can lower the string to your crew member and they will tie on the forgotten item for you to pull up. If you happen to be particularly forgetful, it would be clever to employ a canvas bag to receive the tools.

I have found that it's difficult to see the top of my mast while sitting in the bosun's chair even when it's fully raised. I remedy this by bringing a looped piece of webbing (a sling) which I connect with a carabiner to the top of my mast. I then step into the piece of webbing which raises me high enough to see the top of the mast .

The Fun Part

One of the most enjoyable parts of climbing the mast is coming back down. The work is done and now you get to enjoy a smooth, steady descent to deck level.

It's essential that your crew member below wear gloves for this part of the job. I recommend gloves for the entire job but certainly for this bit.

From the cockpit, your crew member will uncleat the secondary line and remove that line from it's winch. Your crew member will then take the line out of the self-tailing mechanism on the primary winch while maintaining a firm grip on the line. They will slowly let out the primary line while keeping three wraps on the winch. Continue slowly releasing line until all crew are deck side.

To aid in exiting the bosun's chair I recommend descending until you are sitting on deck. The extra slack will help you remove yourself from the bosun's chair as gracefully as possible.

The Crewless Climber

Knowing how to climb your mast independently is invaluable, even if you never sail solo. Lifting an adult using a winch can be difficult, time consuming, and tiring. By having the right equipment you can climb your mast with very little to no assistance.

Primary Safety Equipment (Solo)

There are many types of products on the market to help you climb the mast. There are ladders which utilize your mainsail mast track, webbing loops raised to the mast top using the main halyard, and permanently installed mast steps. Alternatively, there are devices which attach directly to the main halyard which allows you to climb the halyard. I'm going to refer to any device that is used to climb the halyard as an "ascension device".

Regardless of the ascension device you choose, these items are essential:

• Ascension Device
• 3 Climbing Carabiners
• 2 Foot Slings

Secondary Safety Equipment (Solo)

• Secondary Line
• 1 Climbing Carabiner

Sailboats are not all rigged the same. You may find that your spinnaker halyard is your only option for the secondary line. On some vessels, the topping lift will be the best option. You will need to determine which line works best for you.

Using The Ascension Device

The ladder style ascension devices are fairly self-explanatory. If you know how to climb a ladder, you're all set. So, I will not go into their use here. In this section, I will explain how to use a rock climbing ascension device to climb your mast.

This is an example of a rock climbing ascension device:

Clear the deck

It's very important to be sure that no crew stands directly below the person working up the mast. Anything that may fall becomes a lethal hazard to those below. It's also absolutely necessary to make sure that there is always a crew member watching the person on the mast. Just be sure to keep your distance from the base of the mast.

You Got This

I definitely recommend that no matter which method you use to climb your mast (crewed, solo, winched, or climbing), practice just above deck level prior to heading up. You want to feel comfortable and confident as you climb the mast. So, work out any kinks before they become disastrous.

There are countless videos portraying the use of ascension devices as well as mast climbing. Use whatever resources necessary to ensure that you have a productive, successful, and safe mast climb.

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Beth lives on board her 1983 30ft S2 sailboat with her husband, 6 year-old son, and her two fur babies. She has been sailing and boating for most of her life. Beth has been blessed to experience cruising in the Great Lakes, the Bahamas, and in Alaska. She loves to travel and adores living on her tiny boat with her family.

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Experts puzzle over why Bayesian yacht sank. Was it a 'black swan event'?

The Bayesian set off on a leisurely cruise around Italy's southern coast on a sunny day in late July.

The luxurious super yacht − which boasted one of the largest masts in the world and carried a crew of business moguls, including British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and his family and a chair of Morgan Stanley − set sail from the Amalfi Coast, bound for Sicily.

Less than a month later, the ship had sunk 160 feet under the water , leaving its cook dead and six of its passengers, including at least two Americans, missing and prompting a massive search that has drawn international attention.

Now, experts are trying to piece together why in the early hours Monday the Bayesian was quickly pulled under the waves amid a storm that saw at least one tornado spin up over the water.

Breaking news to start your day smart. Sign up for USA TODAY's Daily Briefing newsletter.

A perfect storm led to Bayesian sinking, experts say

The combination of unlikely factors that could have contributed to the ship's fate constituted a "black swan event," Matthew Schanck, chairman of the Maritime Search and Rescue Council, told USA TODAY.

The Bayesian was well-built: A 2008 product of Italian ship maker Perini, it was constructed in accordance with international maritime standards and commercially certified by the U.K.'s Maritime and Coastguard Agency, according to Schanck.

The bout of bad weather that swept the area when the ship went down was also out of the ordinary in the northern Mediterranean, "which isn't renowned for prolonged, significant stormy weather," he said.

"The fact that those two elements have then resulted in the foundering of a super yacht is pretty extraordinary," Schanck said. "These things don't happen every day."

After the ship sank just before 5 a.m. local time, 15 people, including a 1-year-old, were pulled from the water. Some were rescued from a life raft by the crew of a ship docked nearby.

Ricardo Thomas, the ship's cook and a native of Antigua, was found dead, according to authorities.

As of Tuesday, six people were missing, including Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter. Several missing passengers were involved in Lynch's trial on fraud charges, including Jonathan Bloomer, a Morgan Stanley chair who served as his character witness, and one of Lynch's attorneys. Lynch, accused of fraud after he sold his company to electronics giant Hewlett-Packard, was acquitted of all charges weeks ago.

Who is Mike Lynch? UK entrepreneur among those missing after superyacht sinks off Sicily

Tornado formed over unusually hot water

Storms in the area that night may have whipped up a water spout, a tornado over the water , according to local meteorologists.

It was likely triggered by the water's unusual warmth, said Rick Shema, a certified consulting meteorologist who served in the Navy.

"The water spout was an uncommon occurrence," he said. "But again, these things happen, especially in warmer water."

At 83.7 degrees, water in the area was more than 3 degrees hotter than average on the day the Bayesian sank, likely the result of climate change, Shema said.

"Hurricanes can form at 80 degrees. This was almost four degrees higher than that," he said.

The water spout may have spun up when cooler air dropped from mountainous places nearby onto the hot water, he said. "A water spout is a vortex, basically like a tornado, spinning real fast, sucking up water and moisture as the column rises," he said.

Although water spouts only reach around 120 mph, as compared with tornadoes on land, which can reach up to 300 mph, "you don't need 200 mph to sink a ship," he said.

"Even an average tornado, 120 miles an hour, that's a lot of wind," he said, "which would heel the boat over for sure."

Water spouts spring up suddenly, Shema said. Before they strike, winds can be slow, but "once the water spout comes over, bam, it's on," he said.

Before sunrise, the ship's crew may not have seen the water spout coming. "The visibility was probably a big factor," he said.

With the windows of the yacht opened, as they likely were in the hot weather, the water spout could have triggered water that flooded through the portholes, Shema said, causing the ship to sink.

Tragedy strikes: Scramble to find survivors after Bayesian yacht sinks off Sicily coast

Search continues, but shift to recovery phase approaches

Italian authorities said the Bayesian was probably at anchor when the storm struck, meaning it couldn't maneuver and ride the waves, according to Mitchell Stoller, a captain and maritime expert witness. Other ships in the area that turned on their engines rode out the storm, he said.

"When you're at anchor and you see weather, you start your engine and you put the wind on the bow. You don't let it get on the side," he said.

Schanck said another key question concerns the position of the keel, a heavy weight underneath the boat that acts as a counterbalance to keep it upright, when the ship sank. When lifted, "that's going to affect the stability of the vessel, because, obviously, you've now raised the center of gravity of that vessel," he said.

The Bayesian was floating over 160 feet of water at the time, deep enough that the keel would likely be deployed. But the fact that "the vessel heeled over so heavily makes me question that," Schanck said.

The cause of the disaster may not be known until the ship can be examined in more detail, experts say. Prosecutors in a nearby town have already opened an investigation.

Schanck said investigators will have plenty to work with once the operation moves into a recovery phase.

"The vessel is intact and in good condition on the seabed," he said. "There's a lot of eyewitness accounts from other vessels in the area and the shore."

As the search entered its second day on Tuesday, the rescue effort may shift in that direction soon. "I suspect, later on, today or tomorrow, we'll probably see some mention of a recovery operation being stated," Schanck said.

The decision to would depend on whether rescuers find signs of life in the ship and air pockets or survivable spaces, Schanck said. At this point, survivors on the water's surface looks unlikely. "My professional opinion is that the casualties will be located within the vessel," he said.

"There is a risk versus benefit in all maritime search and rescue incidents," he said. "Where we start transitioning to a recovery phase, that line shifts."

Contributing: Reuters

Cybele Mayes-Osterman is a breaking news reporter for USA Today. Reach her on email at [email protected]. Follow her on X @CybeleMO.

Mike Lynch’s Sunken Superyacht Is Largely Intact, Italian Officials Say

I talian investigators searching the wreckage of the Bayesian superyacht said it appeared largely intact, a discovery that contradicts earlier eyewitnesses who said its mast had snapped when it sank in Monday’s storm.

Divers are reporting that the 180-foot-long yacht was lying on its side on the ocean floor, an Italian coast guard official said Wednesday. “The divers are looking for structural damage on the hull,” the official said.

The early reports from Italian officials appeared to be at odds with witnesses who had said the aluminum mast snapped during a violent thunderstorm when the vessel sank off the coast of Sicily with 22 people on board, including owner Mike Lynch, a U.K. tech billionaire.

The towering mast on the Bayesian stretched nearly 240 feet into the sky—making the superyacht the tallest luxury sailboat when it was built.

Maritime experts said a broken mast of that height could cause serious damage to a vessel, but the design isn’t a safety concern as long as the masts are well maintained and held tightly upright on the hull by cables called stays.

“Bigger masts support bigger sails and higher sailing speeds,” said Takis Tsakos, a veteran captain who also oversees for clients the construction of superyachts such as the Bayesian at yards in Europe and the U.S. “The yacht fans love the bigger masts because they look marvelous and give the vessel more volume. They are especially impressive at night when they are lit up.”

The Bayesian’s mast could have fallen on the hull, damaging it, or could have been uprooted from its base by the strong winds if the stays weren’t tight enough. Yacht captains say loose stays can make a boat tilt as much as 15 degrees even with the sails folded.

“That would have made a gaping hole and water could have rushed in. It was also a relaxed evening—doors and windows could have been open with more water coming in as the boat tilted,” said Tsakos, founder of Athens-based Yachtways GP, which rents out luxury yachts in the Mediterranean. “These will be determined when the yacht is pulled out of the water.”

The people missing and presumed dead in the sinking of the Bayesian include Lynch, his daughter, a top executive at Morgan Stanley and one of Lynch’s lawyers. The group was celebrating Lynch’s acquittal on U.S. fraud charges.

Italian authorities are continuing to investigate the accident and divers are trying to access the sunken hull. Rescue teams located five bodies from the wreck on Wednesday. The body of the boat’s chef was retrieved from the sea on Tuesday.

Masts must meet the safety standards of classification societies that give the green light for a ship to sail and monitor its maintenance over the years. Oversize masts on superyachts are turned by computer so they face the wind straight on and not sideways even when the sails are folded.

“For a vessel of this size to go down, there must have been tremendous ingress of water inside its enclosed spaces,” said Fotis Pagoulatos, a naval architect who has participated in a number of shipwreck investigations. “Its design allows it to stay afloat, even with two compartments flooded.” He said he wouldn’t be surprised if the yacht’s hull is found cracked and buckled from the forces exerted by the freak weather and possibly the cracked mast.

The single-masted Bayesian was built by Italian company Perini Navi and delivered in 2008 to its original owner. The boat, which was taller than it was long, was one of a class of supersize luxury yachts that cruise the Mediterranean and other hot spots.

Formerly known as Salute, it was one of several that Perini Navi built that was 56 meters long. But its sister ships had shorter masts—generally extending 59 meters, compared with about 72 meters for the Bayesian. Perini Navi didn’t return requests for comment.

The Bayesian has been eclipsed by newer boats owned by other billionaires. Jeff Bezos, the Amazon.com founder, commissioned the 127-meter-tall Koru, a three-masted vessel that was delivered in 2023.

The Koru was so tall that in 2022 it sparked a protest over plans to dismantle a bridge to let it sail out of the Dutch port where it was built. Instead, the ship was towed to another shipyard to have its masts mounted.

Still, the Bayesian remained one of the largest private sailing yachts. It was ordered by a Dutch businessman but, in 2005, he was paralyzed in a yachting accident and it was sold on completion to another Dutch owner and renamed Salute, according to yacht brokers.

In 2014, it was sold to an entity owned by Angela Bacares, Lynch’s wife, and renamed Bayesian. It has no racing history, but boats of this size compete in events such as the St Barths Bucket Regatta, an annual race in the Caribbean, and in the Perini Navi Cup, a four-day race near Sardinia.

Perini Navi is known for creating some of the world’s most famous and luxurious sailing yachts, including the 88-meter-long Maltese Falcon, one of the world’s most recognizable sailing yachts, with rotating masts and a futuristic design.

The masts of the Maltese Falcon are 57 meters tall.

Write to Costas Paris at [email protected]

Inside the shocking Sicily yacht tragedy that left 7 people dead

There was a violent storm, but even then, luxury yachts are built to weather such events. so why did this boat sink off the coast of sicily, leaving seven people dead, by natalie finn | e news • published august 24, 2024 • updated on august 24, 2024 at 10:34 am.

Originally appeared on E! Online

Nobody was trying to reach the lowest depths of the ocean or otherwise test the boundaries of human endurance .

📺 Watch News4 now: Stream NBC4 newscasts for free right here, right now.

But what was supposed to be a routine pleasure cruise aboard a superyacht turned deadly all the same on the morning of Aug. 19 when the 184-foot Bayesian got caught in a storm and sank off the coast of Sicily .

"I can't remember the last time I read about a vessel going down quickly like that," Stephen Richter of SAR Marine Consulting told NBC News . "You know, completely capsizing and going down that quickly, a vessel of that nature, a yacht of that size."

Of the 22 people onboard, including crew, seven people died. The last of the bodies was recovered Aug. 23, an expectedly sad coda to what had already been a tragic week as the search for answers as to how this happened got underway.

And to be sure, every minute of the Bayesian's ill-fated outing is being fiercely scrutinized, starting with the general seaworthiness of the vessel itself.

Because, frankly, this was a freak occurrence.

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"Boats of this size, they’re taking passengers on an excursion or a holiday," Richter explained. "They are not going to put them in situations where it may be dangerous or it may be uncomfortable, so this storm that popped up was obviously an anomaly. These vessels that carry passengers, they’re typically very well-maintained, very well-appointed."

But in this case, a $40 million yacht sank, seven people are dead—including a billionaire tech mogul and his 18-year-old daughter—and morbid fascination doesn't need a second wind.

Here is how the story of the Sicily yacht tragedy has unfolded so far:

What happened to the yacht that sank off the coast of Sicily?

The Bayesian had set off from the Sicilian port of Milazzo on Aug. 14 at capacity with 12 guests and 10 crewmembers aboard.

The aluminum-hulled vessel was built in 2008 by Italian shipbuilder Perini Navi and registered in the U.K. Cruise sites listed it as available for charter at $215,000 per week, per the Associated Press.

On the morning of Aug. 19, the superyacht was anchored off the coast of Porticello, a small fishing village in the Sicilian province of Palermo (also the name of Sicily's capital city), when a violent storm hit.

The vessel "suddenly sank" at around 5 a.m. local time, seemingly due to "the terrible weather conditions," the City Council of Bagheria announced shortly afterward, per NBC News .

At the time, only one person was confirmed dead—the ship's chef—but six others were said to be missing. The 15 survivors—who managed to make it onto an inflatable life boat, according to emergency officials—were rescued that morning by the crew of another yacht that had been nearby when the storm hit.

"Fifteen people inside," Karsten Borner, the Dutch captain of the ship that was able to help (the Sir Robert Baden Powell), told reporters afterward, per Reuters. "Four people were injured, three heavily injured, and we brought them to our ship. Then we communicated with the coast guard, and after some time, the coast guard came and later picked up injured people."

When the storm hit, his boat ran into "a strong hurricane gust," Borner said, "and we had to start the engine to keep the ship in an angled position."

They "managed to keep the ship in position," he continued, but once the storm died down, they realized the other boat that had been behind them—the Bayesian—was gone.

The wreck ended up settling 165 feet below the surface, according to Italy's national fire department.

Fire officials said that divers, a motorboat and a helicopter were deployed to search for the missing.

Meanwhile, footage was captured of the ship capsizing on closed-circuit TV about a half-mile away from where it was anchored.

In the video obtained by NBC News, the illuminated 250-foot aluminum mast of the ship appears to list severely to one side before disappearing completely. Survivors recalled having just a few minutes to literally abandon ship.

Who were the seven people who died when the yacht Bayesian sank?

The tragedy initially became headline news because billionaire tech mogul Mike Lynch—"Britain's Bill Gates," some U.K. media called him—was among the missing. His body was ultimately recovered Aug. 22 .

"They told me that suddenly they found themselves catapulted into the water without even understanding how they had got there," Dr. Fabio Genco, head of the Palermo Emergency Medical Services, told NBC News Aug. 22. "And that the whole thing seems to have lasted from 3 to 5 minutes."

Genco said he got to Porticello about an hour after the Bayesian capsized.

Survivors "told me that it was all dark, that the yacht hoisted itself up and then went down," he said. "All the objects were falling on them. That’s why I immediately made sure, by asking them questions, if they had any internal injuries."

Why did the yacht sink?

Italian prosecutors are investigating to determine what transpired before the boat went down, according to NBC News.

Meanwhile, the CEO of shipbuilder Perini's parent company The Italian Sea Group defended the vessel itself as "unsinkable."

Perini boats "are the safest in the most absolute sense," Giovanni Costantino told Sky News Aug. 22 . What happened to the Bayesian "put me in a state of sadness on one side and of disbelief on the other," he continued. "This incident sounds like an unbelievable story, both technically and as a fact."

Costantino said it had to have been human error that led to the boat sinking, declaring, "Mistakes were made."

"Everything that was done reveals a very long summation of errors," he told newspaper Corriere della Sera Aug. 21, in an interview translated from Italian. "The people should not have been in the cabins, the boat should not have been at anchor."

The weather was "all predictable," he continued, adding that the storm "was fully legible in all the weather charts. It couldn't have been ignored."

The yacht's captain, identified as James Cutfield of New Zealand, was taken to Termini Imerese hospital for treatment. From there, he told La Repubblica, per Sky News , that he didn't see the storm coming.

Borner, the captain of the ship that rescued the 15 Bayesian survivors, told NBC News that he noticed the storm come in at 4 a.m. local time, and saw what looked to him like a waterspout, a type of tornado that forms above water.

The International Centre for Waterspout Research posted on X Aug. 19 that it had "confirmed 18 waterspouts today off the coasts of Italy. Some were powerful waterspouts, one of which may have been responsible for the sinking of a large yacht off of Sicily."

Borner said he didn't know why the Bayesian sank so quickly, guessing "it may have something to do with the mast, which was incredibly long." (A tall mast, even with its sails down, means there's more surface area exposed to wind, which can result in tipping.)

Confirming that one person was dead and six unaccounted for immediately following the wreck on Aug. 19, Salvo Cocina of Sicily's civil protection agency told reporters that a waterspout had struck the area overnight.

"They were in the wrong place at the wrong time," he said.

The 59-year-old founder of software firm Autonomy had been on the trip with his wife Angela Bacares and their 18-year-old, Oxford-bound daughter Hannah to celebrate his recent acquittal in the U.S. on fraud and conspiracy charges stemming from the $11.7 billion purchase of his company by Hewlett-Packard in 2011.

In a bizarre turn of events, Lynch's co-defendant at trial, Stephen Chamberlain, the former vice president of finance at Autonomy, died after being taken off life support following a road accident on Aug. 17. Chamberlain's attorney told Reuters Aug. 20 that his friend and client had been out for a run when he was "fatally struck" by a car.

Meanwhile, multiple people who contributed to Lynch's defense were on the cruise with him and his family.

The bodies of Morgan Stanley International Chairman Jonathan Bloomer—who testified on Lynch's behalf—and his wife Judy Bloomer, as well as lawyer Chris Morvillo, a partner at the U.S. firm Clifford Chance, and his wife Neda Morvillo, a jewelry designer, were recovered on Aug. 21 .

In a LinkedIn post thanking the team that successfully defended Lynch, Morvillo wrote, per Sky News , "And, finally, a huge thank you to my patient and incredible wife, Neda Morvillo, and my two strong, brilliant, and beautiful daughters, Sabrina Morvillo and Sophia Morvillo. None of this would have been possible without your love and support. I am so glad to be home. And they all lived happily ever after…"

The first casualty confirmed Aug. 19 was the ship's Canadian-Antiguan chef, later identified as Recaldo Thomas.

"He was a one-of-a-kind special human being," a friend of Thomas told The Independent . "Incredibly talented, contagious smile and laugh, an incredible voice with a deep love of the ocean and the moon. I spoke to him nearly every day. He loved his life his friends and his job."

Hannah's body was the last of the missing six to be found , with divers bringing her remains ashore on Aug. 23.

Lynch and Bacares, who was rescued, also shared a 21-year-old daughter, according to The Times.

While awaiting trial, Lynch—who maintained his innocence throughout the proceedings—had spent 13 months under house arrest in San Francisco. Back home in London afterward, he admitted to The Times in July that he'd been afraid of dying in prison if he'd been found guilty. (He faced a possible 25-year sentence.)

"It's bizarre, but now you have a second life," he reflected. "The question is, what do you want to do with it?"

(E!, NBC News and Sky News are all members of the Comcast family.)

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Lynch’s superyacht sank because of ultra-tall mast, says rescue skipper

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Marianna Giusti and Giuliana Ricozzi in Porticello

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An experienced boat captain whose ship was anchored close to Mike Lynch’s superyacht when it sank in a violent storm off the coast of Sicily on Monday has said the stricken vessel appeared to capsize because of its extremely high mast.

“In my opinion there is something wrong with the stability,” Dutch skipper Karsten Börner told the FT about the sinking of the 540-tonne Bayesian, which caused the deaths of the UK technology entrepreneur and six others, including Lynch’s daughter.

“The centre of gravity is too high with this extreme mast,” said Börner, referring to the tallest aluminium boat mast in the world.

He rejected an initial assessment by the Italian coastguard that Bayesian was “in the wrong spot at the wrong time”. He said: “I was on the same spot. I have two masts and they are 28 and 29 metres above deck, she has one, 73 metres above deck.”

From his own boat, Börner witnessed the loss of Bayesian in the ferocious storm before rescuing 15 survivors from the Lynch family’s yacht.

He said the wind was “violent, very violent” and guessed it reached force 12 on the Beaufort scale — hurricane strength. “It was tonnes of water coming down. I never saw that before, there was a water tornado,” he added.

Börner, 69, who has 41 years of industry experience, said the survivors he rescued told him that Bayesian sank in less than two minutes.

Closed-circuit TV footage from the shore shows the yacht, its mast lit up, heeling over in the wind before the image is obscured by rain and the lights disappear.

Börner, who has seen the footage, believes it shows Bayesian capsizing in a matter of seconds.

Giovanni Costantino, chief executive of the Italian Sea Group, which owns the yacht’s builder, Perini Navi, previously told the FT that Bayesian “was designed to be absolutely stable” and carry its ultra-tall mast.

He suggested the yacht’s crew had not followed the proper safety procedures. ISG declined to comment on Börner’s conclusions.

Bayesian skipper James Cutfield has not so far commented publicly on the disaster, though he has been interviewed by investigators.

Börner said Bayesian’s crew told him they had “closed the ship”, contradicting ISG’s suggestion that hatches on the yacht had been left open.

He also said that Cutfield, who was among the 15 survivors rescued by Börner’s boat before dawn on Monday, “was completely involved in the rescue”.

Cutfield stayed in Börner’s boat to continue the search for survivors and then transferred to the coastguard.

Sir Robert Baden Powell, the yacht captained by Börner, was anchored close to Bayesian, in what should have been a relatively sheltered anchorage off Porticello, when the storm hit. 

During the storm, Börner tried to keep his ship in position, starting the engine and keeping his bow into the wind.

Bayesian — with which he repeatedly looked to avoid a possible collision during the storm — was behind them. “[They] did the same, I guess,” Börner said.

At one point, Börner’s passengers alerted him to what they thought was “a structure above the water” close to them.

Borner said he turned and, during a flash of lightning, saw a large triangle. “I think they saw the ship capsize and when I turned around I saw the bow, then it went down,” he added.

A public prosecutor investigating the sinking of Bayesian is probing the potential offence of “negligent shipwreck”, according to an Italian official.

If the British-registered boat, designed by Ron Holland and built in 2008, did capsize, one factor may have been the so-called lifting keel.

According to ISG, when the yacht’s keel is raised to allow it to enter shallow anchorages or harbours, Bayesian can withstand an inclination of up to 73 degrees without capsizing.

When the keel is lowered — the safer position — she can tilt by up to 88 degrees, a nearly flat position with the mast on the water. It is not yet known if the keel was up or down.

Börner said he had noticed the impact of global warming on Mediterranean weather in recent years.

“Now we have Medicanes — hurricanes in the Mediterranean — it’s a new thing,” he said, adding he started noticing an intensifying trend of Mediterranean storms in the past five to 10 years.

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Shorten mast and rigging

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Hello, I just wanted to bounce an idea of someone to see if this makes sense; First off, I am looking to move up to a slightly bigger boat. I have my eye on a few different 27 footers that I think will do. I currently have a 35' slip at a wonderful marina 5 minutes from the open ocean. Unfortunately, there is a bridge that has a chart indicated 35' vertical clearance at Mean High tide between my slip and the ocean. I have tied up right next to the clearance marker for most of the day and recorded clearances ranging from 37' to 43'. Of all the boats I am considering, the lowest bridge clearance on any of them is 38' 6". So, i m trying to figure out how to make this work. I am not interested in the complication of a tabernacle. Nor am I interested in hanging off the boom to heel the boat. What I am considering is cutting 1 1/2-2' off the bottom of the mast, shorten the rigging and have new sails made for the new dimensions. Is this feasible? I have google searched for hours and came up empty. From what I can think of, the effects would be the same as reefing the sail. The center of effort would move forward, the boat would heel less and require reefing at a higher wind speed. The downsides would be less light air performance. Am I missing anything? The way I see it, on a Catalina 27 standard rig, taking 2' from the mast height would give me roughly 36' of clearance. Basically allowing me to pass under the bridge 95% of the time without any hassle. Plus being on the Ocean, there is rarely a shortage of wind, so the downsides are actually pluses for me. I do not race and am not concerned with long distance passage making so the small loss of speed are insignificant. Does this make any sense? Can it be done? What are the dangers or other downsides i am not seeing? Thanks, AR.  

Can it be done? Sure, anything can be done if you can spend enough to make it happen. The biggest issue with this sort of thing, esp with an oh-so-standard boat like the C27, is you'll create an odd ball off-beat that will be not quite really be a Catalina 27 when you eventually come to sell her.  

Slow down What you are going to do will of course change the dynamics of the boat But i have as a surveyor seen it done to a more drastic level. Nice thing is you do not have to have new sails made ,,just have the old ones cut down by any competent sail-maker...and have the rigging shortened by a good rigger...But most of all seems rather then here it would be better to contact Catalina direct They are nice and accommodating and the engineers there seem to love figuring out new ideas (think they get a little restless sometimes). It may take two or three calls but someone will figure out the new dynamics and safety factor. Hope this helps Capt.Joseph  

alanr77 said: Hello, I just wanted to bounce an idea of someone to see if this makes sense; First off, I am looking to move up to a slightly bigger boat. I have my eye on a few different 27 footers that I think will do. I currently have a 35' slip at a wonderful marina 5 minutes from the open ocean. Unfortunately, there is a bridge that has a chart indicated 35' vertical clearance at Mean High tide between my slip and the ocean. I have tied up right next to the clearance marker for most of the day and recorded clearances ranging from 37' to 43'. Click to expand...

Of all the boats I am considering, the lowest bridge clearance on any of them is 38' 6". So, i m trying to figure out how to make this work. I am not interested in the complication of a tabernacle. Nor am I interested in hanging off the boom to heel the boat. What I am considering is cutting 1 1/2-2' off the bottom of the mast, shorten the rigging and have new sails made for the new dimensions. Is this feasible? I have google searched for hours and came up empty. From what I can think of, the effects would be the same as reefing the sail. The center of effort would move forward, the boat would heel less and require reefing at a higher wind speed. The downsides would be less light air performance. Am I missing anything? Click to expand...

The way I see it, on a Catalina 27 standard rig, taking 2' from the mast height would give me roughly 36' of clearance. Basically allowing me to pass under the bridge 95% of the time without any hassle. Plus being on the Ocean, there is rarely a shortage of wind, so the downsides are actually pluses for me. I do not race and am not concerned with long distance passage making so the small loss of speed are insignificant. Click to expand...

Does this make any sense? Can it be done? What are the dangers or other downsides i am not seeing? Thanks, AR. Click to expand...

Thanks for the replies. I am just brainstorming some ideas. A few of us have been sitting around the table discussing this and I just figured I would add more thoughts to the table. I hear of lots of people creating longer masts to increase performance but never shortening it. Looking at the mast on my current Catalina, there is really nothing that needs to be moved on the bottom of the mast if I were to cut a foot or two off the bottom. By making everything shorter, it would simply make everything smaller. The Geometry would be the same as long as everything was shortened the exact same distance. i don't see how this would negatively effect the boat as far as mast strength, or general sailing ability in 10-15 knots. regarding the monetary value of the boat, I build lots of custom stuff, from bikes to cars. I am not really concerned with affecting the resale value of a "oh so common" Catalina...I wouldn't do this to anything valuable or one off. What I am additionally asking is; would the boat still sail normally-except in light air?  

alanr77 said: Thanks for the replies. I am just brainstorming some ideas. A few of us have been sitting around the table discussing this and I just figured I would add more thoughts to the table. I hear of lots of people creating longer masts to increase performance but never shortening it. Looking at the mast on my current Catalina, there is really nothing that needs to be moved on the bottom of the mast if I were to cut a foot or two off the bottom. By making everything shorter, it would simply make everything smaller. The Geometry would be the same as long as everything was shortened the exact same distance. i don't see how this would negatively effect the boat as far as mast strength, or general sailing ability in 10-15 knots. regarding the monetary value of the boat, I build lots of custom stuff, from bikes to cars. I am not really concerned with affecting the resale value of a "oh so common" Catalina...I wouldn't do this to anything valuable or one off. What I am additionally asking is; would the boat still sail normally-except in light air? Click to expand...

From what I can see, cutting off the bottom would be easier and better because the original masthead plus hardware would stay intact. I may have to raise the position of the goose neck and halyard cleats by the same distance that I removed. The vang would have to be repositioned, but as long as everything was moved the exact same distance, everything should stay the same, only smaller.... To me, this would be like putting a C-25 mast on a C27. I do not see how it would be dangerous. What am I missing? In the responses, remove the resale or monetary considerations from the equation as they are unimportant to me. I am looking at the technical aspects of it only. Thanks for you help, AR.  

isn't there another marina that can accomidate larger boats nearby? that would make the most sense to me.  

Sailingdog, I agree with the gooseneck being moved. Though on my C-22, the mast and Bimini are much lower than on the 27. I like it thay way as it keeps the sun off is better. Regarding the change, the way i see it, if I spend time and money changing the boat and I enjoy it for a few years, it is completely worth while to me. I just can't see how it would seriously detract from the boat in any way. Oviously I would have to shorten the halyards and wiring, all of which is easy to me. Thanks for the relies so far.AR  

Sailingdog, I agree with the gooseneck being moved. Though on my C-22, the boom and bimini are much lower than on the 27. I like it thay way as it keeps the sun off us better. Regarding the change, the way I see it, if I spend time and money changing the boat and I enjoy it for a few years, it is completely worth while to me. I just can't see how it would seriously detract from the boat in any way. Oviously I would have to shorten the halyards and wiring, all of which is easy to me. Thanks for the replies so far.AR  

AFAIK, the C-27 mast isn't tapered in any way, so whack off the top, bottom, or both - all the fittings will still fit. Given that, I think it'd be easier to whack off the top, then you're not re-doing gooseneck, winches, exit slots, et al at the bottom. The hardest part about moving the spreaders on that rig should be getting the bolt out of the compression sleeve in the mast. Catalina Direct made all new rigging for my 30 for about $800. Have fun! - r  

Why would I need to move the spreaders?  

I guess technically you wouldn't have to.. they would just be closer to the deck. But it would look a bit odd as the original geometry will be lost. Shortening from the bottom would mean your shroud angles to the masthead would not change if you leave the spreaders where they are... shortening from the top would give you a wider shroud angle at the masthead. This would still "look" different but would actually be stronger.  

Droptop, yes there are other marina's. But.... I happen to like this one. It is a very small, close knit marina. Te boats are lined up on a floating dock on a tidal creek. Easy to dock and such. Like I said, just foating the idea around. So the mast would be stronger cutting it on the top? Why?  

alanr77 said: ....So the mast would be stronger cutting it on the top? Why? Click to expand...

While I am no naval engineer and hate to see a C-27 mast cut down to size, if you're looking to experiment anyway, why not look into a gunter rig setup for the top section? Cut say 10 feet off the top and move the masthead down. It's a constant section mast so sawing it down won't be an issue. Plus, it isn't hard to find C-27 masts. I turned down a free one on Long Island not too long ago. You'll need to reroute the halyards and redo the standing rigging. Then attach a new hinge and a 10 foot section of tubing at the top on a separate halyard (?) to raise and lower it. Have the mainsail recut to allow it to attach to the new upper spar and raise away. Then you'd have a 28 foot mast in air with a 10 foot range to play with. Lower the upper to clear bridges and then raise to full vertical, tension up and sail normally. I don't know if the C-27 mast would be strong enough to support the new top weight and resist the sailing forces but it might be worth a go. It would at least let you preserve the existing sail area for the most part and hopefully not have a dramatic impact on the boat's sailing ability. Plus it would keep the boom, gooseneck and existing sail dimensions/position as-is. It would require some hardware. I'd seriously look for a used C-27 mast and modify that. That way if it does or doesn't work, you'll have the ability to revert the boat back to standard rig and keep her value. The chainplates at deck level wouldn't be affected. At most some new deck blocks. The mast is deck-stepped so switching out isn't difficult. I like exercises like this. Matt  

Why not figure out a tabernacle rig for the boat? Tip it down, go under the bridge in question, tip it back up, and go. Haven't read everything posted on this thread terribly carefully, but if you cut the rig, you've got to re-cut all the sails. Unless you can do it yourself and not mangle the sail shape, it won't be inexpensive.  

You don't need to shorten the mast. What you do is get two or three (pending on their size) designated boom riders to sit on the outboard end of the boom. This will cause the boat to list when you swing it all the way out and the foreshorten arc of the mast should enough for you to slide under that bridge. If it is winter have them in immersion suits and in the summer, bathing suits should do it... Oh! with PFDs also. have to be a bit safety minded here.... Now would that be a good place for the In-laws???  

I think tabernacle masts on Catalina 27s are pretty common. My old C27 had one. Huntington harbor (I think) in Southern California had a low bridge, and people had to lower the mast to get under. As I recall, there were quick release pins on the lower aft shrouds and backstay. You tightened the vang and topping lift and you had a pretty stable system. You used the mainsheet for leverage to drop the mast forward Why don't you call the Catalina factory and see what they think? They are very responsive. David  

Hello all, sorry for the botched words on some of my posts, I was responding on my blackberry during some boring meetings.....Anyway; I have researched the tabernacle idea quite extensively and though completely doable, I was trying to find a simpler method of achieving the same result. As you all know, if it is even a small hassle to do something, you probably won't do it as often... I like to take my current boat out after work on a whim. It takes less than 6 minutes before I am pulling away from the dock. Then five minutes later I am raising sails...no sweat, no fuss. Given that the only reason I want a bigger boat is to make weekend trips more comfortable, allow guests a little more room, stand up while taking a leak and cooking....and motor to anchorages directly to windward (inboard), I don't want to add much more sweat, fuss and complication. It is because of this that I started thinking about simply shortening the mast. The kind of boats I buy are the $6000 craigslist specials. they always need new rigging, new sails ect. So the cost of getting sails made and creating new, shorter rigging is already factored into my price. A jigsaw and some sandpaper along with a good measuring tape makes cutting the mast down to size easy. What I still do not understand, and from the posts, neither does anyone else is why would this not be as simple as my mind is making it? Step 1) Make a mark 1' 6" down from the top of the mast. 2) Cut the mast section off perfectly square. 3) Have new rigging made for the boat exactly 1' 6" shorter than the rigging that came off it. 4) Shorten the electrical wiring, or just loop it up inside the mast a bit, shorten the halyards by 1' 6" 5) Step the mast normally, have the sails cut exactly 1' 6" shorter, jib, genny and main. 6) Bend the sails and go sailing. From what I understand, the center of effort will move down, the boat will heel less given the same amount of wind, need to be reefed later. Lose a small amount of light wind ability. I mean, were talking 1' 6" here. Many older boats, like Tartan 27's, had long booms with shorter sails. BTW, a Tartan 27 is on my short list. I don't see how this is such a drastic change as to warrant most people advising against it. What is the reasoning behind your posts? Yes, I like to experiment, I like to tinker with everything. And being that at least for the moment, all of this is theoretical, it's still free.... Thanks for the posts, AR.  

Just curious, what is the point of chopping 18" off of the halyards. It really doesn't affect how they will work or save a whole lot in any way that matters-in terms of weight, space taken up, etc. Ideally,you'd have new sails cut specifically for the new rig to get the best performance out of them. You could just have a sailmaker cut off the bottom 18" of the existing sails, but that would not necessarily leave you with a sail that is cut optimally for the new rig. Also, you'd probably want to have a sailmaker move the reefing points up the sail by 18", or you're going to have a really shallow first reef.  

After thinking for a minute about the halyards, your right.... I agree with new sails being made, I think with properly cut sails, the boat would perform fine. Earlier I stated "its only 1' 6", how much of a difference could it make? then I realized the only difference between a C27 standard and tall rig is 1' 5"......so maybe a lot.  

There must be some larger boats out there with less mast height.. How about a ketch? What your talking about doing seems awful expensive for a cheap boat. new sails and rigging $$$$ You could go for more roach on the main to make up for the loss of height. Still it all seems too much for too little.  

Well, I sailed my boat last season with a full batten main that was almost 3 ft shorter then the original and it sailed ok except in light air. Can you shorten your rigging yourself with the use of sta-loc type connections?  

IMHO, you're on track to making some compromises that just shouldn't be made. A tabernacle isn't that big a deal. you wrote: Step 1) Make a mark 1' 6" down from the top of the mast. OK 2) Cut the mast section off perfectly square. Sure... 3) Have new rigging made for the boat exactly 1' 6" shorter than the rigging that came off it. Doesn't work that way... basic trig, pythagorean stuff , etc... you're shortening triangles of different lengths. 4) Shorten the electrical wiring, or just loop it up inside the mast a bit, shorten the halyards by 1' 6" Halyards are fine... so is the electrical 5) Step the mast normally, have the sails cut exactly 1' 6" shorter, jib, genny and main. Again, sails are triangular 3D foils. Cutting exactly 1'6" from where? This is more complex than you're thinking depending on the type of sail you have, and won't be cheap. 6) Bend the sails and go sailing. Sure... in a now much more underpowered rig and sail plan... Maybe for SF Bay, but for most other places, design sail area/displacement ratios shouldn't be ignored or messed with... again, all in MHO. I'm sure there are other boats that might meet your needs. I'd do the tabernacle or just find a slip on the other side of the bridge in question.  

Denise, yes I can. Puddin, this is the kind of stuff I am asking about. Wouldn't a rigger be able to figure this out? I agree with SD in that a sail maker would cut the sails differently. Like I said, this is theoretical at this point. I am trying to understand the math here. Being that all the shrouds and stays start out at different lengths, wouldn't they remain at the correct angles if they were all cut the same? Think of a correctly designed airplane wing, or bridge support; all I am trying to do is recreate the wing or bridge support in miniature. Are you saying that the boom would have to be cut down in proportion to the mast in order to maintain the symmetry of the rig? Thanks, AR.  

alanr77 said: Are you saying that the boom would have to be cut down in proportion to the mast in order to maintain the symmetry of the rig? Thanks, AR. Click to expand...

Alan, Do what you want to do. It's doable, and it's your money. Make sure you do the math on the rigging lengths - easy enough - and understand that sails are not flat. Especially on the main, there is a lot of curve in the bottom. You can't really just cut that off, so altering sials gets expensive. I recall many years ago having extensively modified an old automobile because I had convinced myself that I had some very specialized needs, I had the skill to do the work, and the money was not an object for me. The project was a success, on my terms. The neighbors thought I was nuts. I wound up with 10 grand in a $3,000 car, and the satisfaction having exactly what I wanted. Given the same situation today, I'd have kept shopping for the car that I needed at a reasonable price. What you have here is the perfect reason to sail a lovely, classic, gaff rigger, a ship that will draw admiring attention anywhere you go. What you are proposing is more like one of those "What the hell was he thinking" kind of things. But it appears to me that you are primarily interested in the project, not the boat. Just make sure that you want what it is that you think you need.  

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Lynch Yacht Sinking Off Sicily Proves as Baffling as It Is Tragic

As bodies were recovered, the authorities and experts wondered how a $40 million, stable and secure vessel could have sunk so quickly.

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By Emma Bubola and Michael J. de la Merced

Emma Bubola reported from Porticello, Italy, and Michael J. de la Merced from London.

Two months after being cleared in a bruising legal battle over fraud charges, the British tech mogul Mike Lynch celebrated his freedom with a cruise. He invited his family, friends and part of his legal team on board his luxury sailing yacht, a majestic 180-foot vessel named Bayesian after the mathematical theorem around which he had built his empire.

On Sunday night, after a tour of the Gulf of Naples, including Capri, and volcanic islands in the Eolian archipelago, the boat anchored half a mile off the Sicilian coast in Porticello, Italy. It chose a stretch of water favored by the Phoenicians thousands of years ago for its protection from the mistral wind and, in more recent times, by the yachts of tech billionaires. The boat was lit “like a Christmas tree,” local residents said, standing out against the full moon.

But about 4 a.m., calamity unfolded. A violent and fast storm hit the area with some of the strongest winds locals said they had ever felt. Fabio Cefalù, a fisherman, said he saw a flare pierce the darkness shortly after 4.

Minutes later, the yacht was underwater. Only dozens of cushions from the boat’s deck and a gigantic radar from its mast floated on the surface of the sea, fishermen said.

In all, 22 people were on board, 15 of whom were rescued. Six bodies — five passengers and the ship’s cook — had been recovered by Thursday afternoon, including that of Mr. Lynch, an Italian government official said, adding that the search was continuing for his daughter.

It was a tragic and mystifying turn of events for Mr. Lynch, 59, who had spent years seeking to clear his name and was finally inaugurating a new chapter in his life. Experts wondered how a $40 million yacht, so robust and stable could have been sunk by a storm near a port within minutes.

“It drives me insane,” said Giovanni Costantino, the chief executive of the Italian Sea Group, which in 2022 bought the company, Perini, that made the Bayesian. “Following all the proper procedures, that boat is unsinkable.”

The aura of misfortune only deepened when it emerged that Stephen Chamberlain, 52, a former vice president of finance for Mr. Lynch’s former company and a co-defendant in the fraud case, was killed two days earlier, when he was hit by a car while jogging near his house in England.

Since June, the two men had been in a jubilant mood. A jury in San Francisco had acquitted both on fraud charges that could have sent them to prison for two decades. There were hugs and tears, and they and their legal teams went for a celebratory dinner party at a restaurant in the city, said Gary S. Lincenberg, a lawyer for Mr. Chamberlain.

The sea excursion was meant as a thank-you by Mr. Lynch to those who had helped him in his legal travails. Among the guests was Christopher J. Morvillo, 59, a scion of a prominent New York family of lawyers who had represented Mr. Lynch for 12 years. He and his wife, Neda, 57, were among the missing.

So, too, was Jonathan Bloomer, 70, a veteran British insurance executive who chaired Morgan Stanley International and the insurer Hiscox.

The body of the ship’s cook, Recaldo Thomas, was recovered. All the other crew members survived. Among them was Leo Eppel, 19, of South Africa, who was on his first yacht voyage working as a deck steward, said a friend, who asked not to be identified.

Since the sinking, the recovery effort and investigation have turned the tiny port town of Porticello, a quiet enclave where older men sit bare-chested on balconies, into what feels like the set of a movie.

Helicopters have flown overhead. Ambulances have sped by with the sirens blaring. The Coast Guard has patrolled the waters off shore, within sight of a cordoned-off dock that had been turned into an emergency headquarters.

On Wednesday afternoon, a church bell tolled after the first body bag was loaded into an ambulance, a crowd watching in silence.

The survivors were sheltering in a sprawling resort near Porticello, with a view of the shipwreck spot, and had so far declined to comment.

Attilio Di Diodato, director of the Italian Air Force’s Center for Aerospace Meteorology and Climatology, said that the yacht had most likely been hit by a fierce “down burst” — when air generated within a thunderstorm descends rapidly — or by a waterspout , similar to a tornado over water.

He added that his agency had put out rough-sea warnings the previous evening, alerting sailors about storms and strong winds. Locals said the winds “felt like an earthquake.”

Mr. Costantino, the boat executive, said the yacht had been specifically designed for having a tall mast — the second-tallest aluminum mast in the world. He said the Bayesian was an extremely safe and secure boat that could list even to 75 degrees without capsizing.

But he said that if some of the hatches on the side and in the stern, or some of the deck doors, had been open, the boat could have taken on water and sunk. 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.

12 guests occupied the yacht’s six cabins. There were also 10 crew members.

Open hatches, doors and cabin windows could have let in water during a storm, according to the manufacturer.

Open hatches, doors and

cabin windows could

have let in water

during a storm,

according to the

manufacturer.

Source: Superyacht Times, YachtCharterFleet, MarineTraffic

By Veronica Penney

The New York Times attempted to reach the captain, James Cutfield, who had survived, for comment through social media, his brother and the management company of the yacht (which did not hire the crew), but did not make contact.

So far none of the surviving crew members have made a public statement about what happened that night.

Fabio Genco, the director of Palermo’s emergency services, who treated some of the survivors, said that the victims had recounted feeling as if the boat was being lifted, then suddenly dropped, with objects from the cabins falling on them.

The Italian Coast Guard said it had deployed a remotely operated vehicle that can prowl underwater for up to seven hours at a depth of more than 980 feet and record videos and images that they hoped would help them reconstruct the dynamics of the sinking. Such devices were used during the search and rescue operations of the Titan vessel that is believed to have imploded last summer near the wreckage of the Titanic.

After rescuers broke inside the yacht, they struggled to navigate the ropes and many pieces of furniture cluttering the vessel, said Luca Cari, a spokesman for Italy’s national firefighter corps.

Finally, as of Thursday morning, they had managed to retrieve all but one of the missing bodies, and hopes of finding the missing person alive were thin. “Can a human being be underwater for two days?” Mr. Cari asked.

What was certain was that Mr. Lynch’s death was yet another cruel twist of fate for a man who had spent years seeking to clear his name.

He earned a fortune in technology and was nicknamed Britain’s Bill Gates. But for more than a decade, he had been treated as anything but a respected tech leader.

He was accused by Hewlett-Packard, the American technological pioneer that had bought his software company, Autonomy, for $11 billion, of misleading it about his company’s worth. (Hewlett-Packard wrote down the value of the transaction by about $8.8 billion, and critics called it one of the worst deals of all time .) He had been increasingly shunned by the British establishment that he sought to break into after growing up working-class outside London.

He was extradited to San Francisco to face criminal charges, and confined to house arrest and 24-hour surveillance on his dime. In a townhouse in the Pacific Heights neighborhood — with security people he jokingly told associates were his “roommates” — he spent his mornings talking with researchers whom he funded personally on new applications for artificial intelligence. Afterward, he devoted hours to discussing legal strategy with his team.

Despite his persistent claims of innocence, even those close to Mr. Lynch had believed his odds of victory were slim. Autonomy’s chief financial officer, Sushovan Hussain, was convicted in 2018 of similar fraud charges and spent five years in prison.

During Mr. Lynch’s house arrest, his brother and mother died. His wife, Angela Bacares, frequently flew over from England, and she became a constant presence in the San Francisco courtroom during the trial.

After he was finally acquitted, Mr. Lynch had his eye on the future. “I am looking forward to returning to the U.K. and getting back to what I love most: my family and innovating in my field,” he said.

Elisabetta Povoledo contributed reporting from Pallanza, Italy.

Emma Bubola is a Times reporter based in Rome. More about Emma Bubola

Michael J. de la Merced has covered global business and finance news for The Times since 2006. More about Michael J. de la Merced

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Humming C-22

• Thread starter Jim Hanebury
• Start date Aug 29, 2001
• Catalina Owner Forums
• Smaller Boats

Jim Hanebury

I have noticed a very audible humming coming from my rigging, the lower shrouds I beleive, when I am close hauled on either the port or starboard tack. Nostly on the port tack though. THe lee lower shroud is loose when this occours. Anything I shold be concerned with. Is the rigging tunes right? The back stay tends to be loos when I haul in on the main sheet. Any suggestions/comments would be appreicated.Jim HaneburyC-22 "Laura B"Toms River NJ  

rigging or keel cable? Jim, This may be a dumb question. Do you have a swing keel? Are you sure the humming is coming from the rigging and not the keel cable?My keel cable humms loadly if it is not completely loose and my boat gets up some speed (usually upwind)Let us know what you find out.K2  

Barry Broyles

Keel Cable Jim: Like K2 said, swing keel Catalina 22's are famous for the "Humming" sound you describe. Mine does it all the time and I just crank out a little more slack in the cable and it usually stops.Barry Broyles C22 # 1909 "Brighteyes"  

Rigging Jim:I am not an expert, but I would be concerned about your slack back stay. I am a do-it-yourself kind of guy, but I recommend hiring a rigging shop to tune your rig correctly. You can then mark the turnbuckles so you can get close to the same tune if you ever lower the mast. A properly tuned rig is a safety issue and it will also improve your boat's performance.  

Rigging MJ is correct in that proper tuning of the rigging is a safety issue as well as a performance issue. I disagree, however, that you need to have a rigging expert tune your rigging for you. It is a simple task that just takes a little time and patience. You can purchase a Lews Shroud and Tension guage (be sure to get the right one for the diameter of your cable) which allows you to properly set the tension on each cable. The Lews kit also contains a chart showing the proper tensions for all of the shrouds, the forestay, and the backstay. These settings are a good base setting and can be adjusted to meet your sailing needs. Good luck!  

Hummer Jim;You definitly need to adjust your rigging. The backstay needs to be some what tight when sailing on a beat. Quite possibly the shrouds are out of adjustment also. They should be the same side to side (port aft, and starboard aft) the forward lowers should also be the same but not neccessarily the same as the aft lowers. The uppers ned to be tight enough to keep the mast straight while sailing. If the top of the mast leans off to leward, tighten the uppers. The lowers should keep the center of the mast in line with the top. The back stay can be changed from tight for upwind to loose for downwind. The tension guage is spelled 'Loos'. They make two inexpensive models, and one rather expensive one. The difference between the cheaper ones is the size of the rigging they measure. Get the one that fits the smallest sizes. The hum is probably coming from the keel cable.Mike  

C-22 Humming Thanks All for the information. I already have the Lews Gauge, just forgot about it. It is the smaller one. I believe I goofed up the tension when I had to replace the Aft Shrouds earlier this year. Nice to know that the Humming is just the Keel cable. It is kind of a comforting sound for me. Thanks again for the advice and knowledgeJim Hanbeuryu C-22 " Laura B"  

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