Bayesian was a 56-metre (184 ft) sailing superyacht, built as Salute by Perini Navi at Viareggio, Italy, and delivered in 2008.^[1] The ship was last refitted in 2020^[2] and was in the beneficial ownership of Angela Bacares, wife of the technology entrepreneur Mike Lynch, when it sank on 19 August 2024.^[3]

Bayesian was a flybridge sloop designed by Ron Holland and built with a 56 m (184 ft) aluminium hull and a single-masted cutter rig. The 75 m (246 ft) aluminium mast was designed for the yacht and at the time was the world's tallest. It was one of the world's largest sailing yachts. The yacht featured a traditional aft cockpit and an additional 60 m² (650 sq ft) fully-encloseable cockpit forward. The interior was outfitted in Japanese style by the French design company Rémi Tessier Design.^[4] The yacht was voted as best interior at the International Superyacht Society Awards 2008 and best sailing yacht over 45 metres at the 2009 World Superyacht Awards.^[5] The yacht had a lifting keel, allowing its draft to be reduced from 10m to 4m.^[6]

The yacht, allocated IMO Number 9503392, was ordered by Dutch entrepreneur Eric Albada Jelgersma [nl] (1939–2018), but in 2005 he was paralysed in a yachting accident and it was sold on completion in 2008 to Dutch property developer John Groenewoud and named Salute.^[7][8][9] In November 2014 it was sold to Revtom Ltd., an Isle of Man company owned by Angela Bacares, wife of the technology entrepreneur Mike Lynch, and renamed Bayesian,^[7][9] a reference to Bayesian inference, which was used in statistical machine learning by Lynch's company Autonomy Corporation.^[10] From then, the yacht was registered in the United Kingdom, with London as port of registry, and was managed since 2022 by Camper & Nicholsons International, Geneva.^[7][9]

Bayesian sank in the early morning of 19 August 2024. The yacht was anchored off Porticello (township of Santa Flavia), a small fishing village about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) east of Palermo, Sicily.^[11][12] An attorney for Lynch said that the passengers had intended to celebrate Lynch's acquittal on fraud charges. Among those on board was a member of his defence team.^[13] The Bayesian sank quickly after capsizing whilst at anchor during a storm and sank to a depth of 50 metres (160 ft).

According to witnesses, the yacht was struck by a waterspout during a powerful storm.^[14] There were initial reports that the boat's mast may have snapped causing the vessel to become unbalanced. But search and rescue divers later noted that the ship seemed to be intact, suggesting the mast might not have broken. Other factors in the capsize could have included water entering through hatches and doors which may have been left open.^[15][14]

The ship was carrying 10 crew and 12 passengers, of whom 15 were rescued.^[16][17] The Italian Coast Guard confirmed the identity of those missing. A team of specialist divers descended to the wreck repeatedly. They reached the main bridge but found it challenging to search further inside for victims due to furnishings obstructing their passage and the limited dive time of ten minutes at the wreck.^{[18][19][20][21][excessive citations]}

Survivors included Angela Bacares and two New Zealanders: lawyer Ayla Ronald and the captain, James Catfield.^[22][23]

• Recaldo Thomas, Antiguan citizen born in Canada, crew member of the Bayesian, and ship's cook.^[24]

Although four bodies^[25] have been recovered from the wreck (in addition to Recaldo Thomas), none of them have yet been formally identified.^{[26][note 1]} The missing are:

• Mike Lynch, founder of Autonomy Corporation and Invoke Capital, age 59^[27]
• Hannah Lynch, daughter of Angela Bacares and Mike Lynch, age 18^[28][29]
• Jonathan Bloomer, chairman of Morgan Stanley International^[30][31]
• Judy Bloomer, wife of Jonathan Bloomer^[29]
• Christopher J. Morvillo, partner at Clifford Chance US LLP^[32]
• Neda Morvillo (or Neda Nassiri), jewellery designer and wife of Christopher Morvillo^[29][33]