The Yacht Bayesian, long 56 meters and made of aluminum, sank off the coast of Porticello, in the province of Palermo, at dawn on August 19, 2024, causing 7 victims including the British billionaire Mike LynchThe luxury sailing ship was built by Perini Ships In the 2008 in the shipyards of Viareggioin the province of Lucca, with the name of Health. Its characteristics made it suitable for various types of cruises and what made it unique was the mast 75 meters in aluminumThe tallest in the world of this type.
The Yacht Bayesian has a length of 56 meters and a width of 11.5 meterswhile the mast, or “pole” to which the main sails are attached, is tall 75 metersabout three-quarters of the height of the bell tower of San Marco in Venice, and is built in aluminum. When the yacht was built by Perini ShipsIn the 2008this mast was the tallest in the world. When it was launched it was the fifth example of the Perini Navi series with a length of 56 metres and the first to be built as a “sloop“, that is, a sailing vessel with a single mast and a single forestay, that is, a single cable that connects the mast to the bow and that supports the sail – said flakeThe total sail area could reach up to 2900 square metersalmost a third of that of a football field.
The maximum immersion is approximately 9.7 meterswhen the keel is completely lowered. Sailing ships in fact have under their hull, in the immersed part, a sort of fin called a keel, which allows them to provide greater stability to the vessel and above all to counterbalance the force that the wind exerts on the sails when the boat moves thanks to these systems. In very strong winds, in fact, the ship could tend to lean excessively to one side and the keel acts as a “brake” on this inclination. This keel can be raised when the ship travels only thanks to its enginesreaching a depth of approximately 4 metersThe fact that the drift was not extensive at the time of the sinking is considered one of the possible causes of the disaster of August 19, 2024.
The Bayesian was a sailing yacht with an entirely wooden hull. aluminum and, in addition to the sails, for its propulsion it was equipped with two diesel cycle engines MTU engines of 720 kW, equal to about 966 horsepower each, which allowed it to sail even in conditions of wind too light to use sails. The yacht could carry on board 10 components of thecrew and maximum 12 passengersThe interiors were designed by the French studio Remi Tessier Design and thanks to these peculiarities the vessel had won the prize for the best furnishings inside theInternational Superyacht Society Awards In the 2008 and the title of best sailing yacht over 45 metres in length in 2009 to the World Superyacht Awards. Between the 2016 and the 2020 the yacht had suffered some maintenance work and edit: the first ones took place in Mallorca, Spain, at the Astilleros de Mallorca shipyard. Unfortunately, the work that was done during these maintenance operations is not yet clear and the investigations to determine the cause of the sinking will also focus on these details.
