yacht in a storm

Yachting World

• Digital Edition

Video: 6 of the best heavy weather sailing videos

• Harriett Ferris
• June 18, 2017

Watch our pick of the most dramatic heavy weather videos

This first video of heavy weather sailing is our from our Storm Sailing Series with Skip Novak . It was probably the most ambitious project Yachting World has ever undertaken: to head for Cape Horn with high latitudes doyen Skip Novak to make a series on Storm Sailing Techniques . Here is one of our most popular videos, rounding Cape Horn in Storm Force 10 conditions…

Hallberg Rassy are known for being heavy, sturdy, seaworthy boats.  This video shows Hallberg Rassy 48 Elysium in heavy weather off Cape Gris Nez, northern France in 2014. The yacht seems to be handling well, able to use a Raymarine lineair 7000 autopilot depsite the conditions.

This compilation is from the BT Global Challenge round the world race, a crewed race westabout the prevailing winds in one-design steel 72-footers. It took amateur crews upwind through the Southern Ocean from Cape Horn to New Zealand and from Australia to Cape Town. This footage shows some of the weather they experienced and what the crews endured – and watch out for some footage of the race leaders fighting it out under trysail during a severe storm in the Cook Strait in New Zealand.

Single-handed sailor Berthold Hinrichs sailing in Hinlopenstretet. It is the 150km long strait between Spitsbergen and Nordaustlandet in Svalbard, Norway and can be difficult to pass because of pack ice.

A fun compilation video of sailing in strong breeze including 2 wipeouts, 1 dismasting and 1 guy going for a swim…

Our last example comes from popular YouTube channel Sailing SV Delos , as the crew tackle a 50-knot gale on the crossing to Madagascar. Skip to 8:00 for the stormy stuff:

If you enjoyed this….

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Video shows moment Bayesian superyacht sinks during ferocious storm off Sicilian coast

A new video obtained from cctv footage in porticello, facing the sea, shows the storm unfolding and the moment the bayesian went down. italian coast guard teams have located five victims since the yacht sank and continue to searched for one more missing person..

Video shows Bayesian yacht sinking in ferocious storm off Italian coast

Video footage obtained by Giornale Di Sicilia shows a view from Porticello, Sicily facing the sea as the storm unfolds and the moment the Bayesian superyacht went under the waves.

Video captured the power of the ferocious storm off the Sicilian coast responsible for sinking the Bayesian, a U.K.-flagged superyacht on Monday and claiming the lives of at least five people onboard.

The 180-foot yacht owned by Angela Bacares, wife of British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, was anchored off the coast of Porticello, near Palermo, when a severe thunderstorm quickly rolled in. According to the Italian Department of Civil Protection, rain and thunderstorms with strong wind gusts were forecast over parts of Sicily through the weekend. 

A new video from CCTV footage in Porticello, facing the sea, shows the storm unfolding and the moment the Bayesian went down. 

At the start of the 1-minute, 30-second clip, the bright and tall mast of the Bayesian is seen in the background, with smaller boats in the foreground. 

Lights of the Bayesian mast seen in the background as a storm unfolds in Porticello, Sicily on Aug. 19, 2024.

(GIORNALE DI SICILIA)

A few seconds into the video, the rain picks up. After 20 seconds, the wind is so ferocious that it can be heard howling on the video, and a torrential downpour obscures the view in front of the camera. By 1 minute, the lights of the ship’s mast are no longer visible.

Multiple Italian officials and news outlets have reported seeing a waterspout during the storm and when the Bayesian was in distress. 

Another video captured on CCTV from a cocktail bar in Porticello shows the violent storm tossing around patio furniture. Within a few minutes, strong gusts of wind and rain blew over plants, pushing tables and chairs from the camera's view.

Strong winds whip tables, chairs in Porticello during severe thunderstorm

CCTV footage from the BAIA bar in Porticello is time-stamped at just after 4 a.m. local time on Monday, around the same time when the Bayesian yacht sank and a strong storm passed through the area. 

The video from the Baia cocktail bar was recorded around 4 a.m. when the Bayesian was seen sinking off the coast.

Fifteen people were rescued from the sea. Five bodies have been recovered from the wreckage, one on the day of the storm and four more on Wednesday. 

On Tuesday, Italian Coast Guard specialized teams were able to access the yacht, now 160 feet beneath the sea. Search crews were looking for the bodies of six people, including Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah. Two Americans and two Canadians are also among the missing. The bodies of the four people found on Wednesday have not been identified.

• Thunderstorms
• Extreme Weather

A Complete Guide To Sailing In A Storm

Sailing in a storm can be a challenging experience but with the right preparation and techniques, it can be navigated safely in most instances.

While it's best to avoid storms when sailing, there are times when storms cannot be avoided.

To sail in a storm:

• Prepare the sailboat for a storm
• Monitor the weather conditions
• Adjust the sailboat to stabilize the vessel in the storm
• Maintain communication with the coast guard

The number one priority when sailing in a storm is safely navigating through the water during these bad weather conditions.

1. Prepare The Sailboat For A Storm

The first step of sailing in a storm is to prepare the sailboat for storm weather conditions.

To prepare a sailboat for a storm:

• Check the rigging & sails : Assess the rigging and sails overall condition. Ensure they are in full working order with no issues with maneuverability or rips in the sails. There should be a storm sail onboard too in preparation for sailing in the storm
• Ensure safety equipment is onboard : Ensure there are liferafts, life jackets for everyone onboard, life buoys, heaving lines, sailing jackets, flashlights, flares, VHF radios, chartplotter/GPS, first aid kits, and fire extinguishers
• Remove the boat canvas/bimini top : In preparation for sailing in a storm, remove the boat canvas/bimini top to prevent it from getting damaged or destroyed or causing injury to passengers onboard ‍
• Ensure loose items are tied down : Any loose items like lines on the deck should be tied down and secured before sailing in a storm. Loose items can become dislodged and damaged or cause injury to passengers onboard if they are not secured during a storm
• Ensure the sailboat's engine is in great condition : Ensure the sailboat's motor is in perfect condition with sufficient oil and fuel to operate during the storm

Preparing the sailboat for a storm will take approximately 30 minutes to complete. This timeframe will vary depending on the size of the vessel and the amount of equipment needed to be purchased and installed onboard.

In preparing for sailing in a storm, there is certain sailboat equipment needed. The equipment needed for sailing in a storm includes a storm sail, heaving lines, sailing jackets, life jackets, life buoys, liferafts, first aid kit, Chartplotter/GPS, fire extinguishers, VHF radio, and flares.

The benefits of preparing the sailboat for a storm are a sailor will be prepared for any issues caused by the storm and a sailor will have the necessary safety equipment to help keep everyone onboard safe during the storm.

One downside of preparing the sailboat for a storm is it can be costly (over $500) especially if the sailor does not have all the right equipment needed to withstand the stormy weather. However, this is a small downside.

2. Monitor The Weather Conditions

The second step of sailing in a storm is to monitor the weather conditions regularly.

To monitor the weather conditions:

• Connect to the VHF radio weather channel : Connect to channel 16 on the VHF radio as this channel provides storm warnings and urgent marine information for boaters
• Use a chartplotter : Modern chartplotters will have marine weather data for boaters to monitor the weather conditions and check windspeeds, rainfall levels, wave height and other relevant marine weather data
• Check a marine weather forecast provider website : If you have internet access on the sailing trip, connect to a marine weather provider for marine weather forecast information in your area

In sailing, weather conditions are considered a storm when the wind speed is 28 knots or higher and the wave heights are 8ft or higher. Other characteristics of stormy weather when sailing is poor visibility with visibility ranges of under half a mile (0.8km or less) and heavy rain with a precipitation rate of at least 0.1 inches (2.5 millimeters) per hour.

It can take approximately 3 to 6 hours for a storm to fully develop when sailing. However, for larger storms, it can take over 2 days for the storm to fully develop.

Monitoring the weather should be done every 20 minutes when sailing in a storm to get up-to-date information on potential nearby locations with better weather to sail to.

The benefit of regularly monitoring the weather conditions is a sailor will be more prepared for the weather that lies ahead and the sailor will be able to make adjustments to their sailing route to help avoid the bad weather.

3. Adjust The Sailboat To Stabilize The Vessel

The third step of sailing in a storm is to adjust the sailboat to stabilize the vessel.

When sailing through the storm, reef the sails to reduce the stress and load on the mast and sails, attach the storm sails, turn the vessel until the wave and wind direction are blowing from the stern of the sailboat, i.e. the wind is blowing downwind. Carefully tack the sailboat slowly until the boat is in the downwind position. Pointing the sailboat downwind is not recommended if the sailboat is near land as it could cause the boat to run into the land.

Alternatively, if the storm is very bad, sailors can perform a "heaving to" storm sailing maneuver.

To perform the heave-to storm sailing maneuver:

• Turn the bow of the boat into the wind : This involves turning the sailboat so that the bow faces into the wind. This will cause the boat to lose forward momentum and begin to drift backward
• Adjust the sails : Depending on the size and configuration of your boat, you may need to adjust the sails in different ways. In general, you will want to position the sails so that they are catching less wind and are working against each other. This will help to slow the boat's drift and keep it from moving too quickly
• Adjust the rudder : You may need to adjust the rudder to keep the boat from turning too far or too fast. In general, you will want to angle the rudder slightly to one side to counteract the wind and keep the boat on a stable course
• Monitor the boat's drift : Once you have heaved-to, you will need to monitor the boat's drift and make small adjustments as needed to maintain your position. This may involve adjusting the sails, rudder, or other factors as conditions change

The heaving to maneuver is used to reduce a sailboat's speed and maintain a stationary position. This is often done in rough weather to provide the crew with a stable platform to work from or to wait out a storm.

This sailing maneuver will adjust the sailboat and should stabilize the vessel in the storm.

The benefits of adjusting the sailboat position in a storm are it will help to stabilize the boat, it will improve safety, it will reduce the crew's fatigue as the crew will not be operating with a boat at higher speeds, it will help maintain control of the sailboat, and it will reduce stress on the sailboat and the rigging system.

Depending on the size of the sailboat, how bad the weather conditions are, and a sailor's experience level, adjusting the sailboat to stabilize it in the storm should take approximately 10 minutes to complete.

4. Maintain Communication With The Coast Guard

The fourth step of sailing in a storm is to maintain communication with the coast guard.

This is particularly important if the storm is over Beaufort Force 7 when sailing is much harder.

To maintain communication with the coast guard during a storm:

• Understand the important VHF channels : During sailing in a storm, be aware of VHF international channel 16 (156.800 MHz) which is for sending distress signals
• Ensure there are coast guard contact details on your phone : Put the local coast guard contact details into your phone. These contact details are not substitutes for using the VHF channel 16 distress signal or dialing 911. These contact details should only be contacted if all else fails

Contacting the coast guard takes less than 1 minute to complete and they are fast to respond in case of an emergency caused by the storm.

The benefits of maintaining communication with the coast guard during a storm are it will help improve safety, the coast guard will be able to provide real-time alerts, and it will provide navigation assistance as the coast guard has access to the latest navigation technology and can guide you through the storm's hazardous areas such as shallow waters or areas with a strong current.

Frequently Asked Questions About Sailing In A Storm

Below are the most commonly asked questions about sailing in a storm.

What Should You Do If You're Caught Sailing In A Storm With Your Boat?

if you're caught sailing in a storm with your boat, you should reef the sails, attach the storm sails and tack the vessel slowly until the wave and wind direction are blowing from the stern of the sailboat.

Should You Drop An Anchor When Sailing In A Storm?

Dropping an anchor can be a useful technique to help keep a boat steady during a storm. However, whether or not to drop an anchor depends on a variety of factors including the size and type of the boat, the severity of the storm, the water depth, and the type of bottom (i.e., mud, sand, or rock).

If you are in a smaller boat that is being pushed around by the waves, dropping an anchor can help keep the boat oriented in a particular direction, reducing the boat's drift. Additionally, it can help reduce the risk of capsizing or being thrown onto a rocky shore.

However, if the storm is very severe with high winds and waves, the anchor may not be enough to hold the boat in place, and it may put undue stress on the anchor and the boat's attachment points. In such a case, it is usually better to try to navigate to a sheltered area or to deploy sea anchors that can help reduce the boat's drift.

It is also essential to be careful when anchoring in a storm as it can be challenging to set the anchor correctly and the wind and waves can cause the anchor to drag.

Is It Safe To Sail In A Storm?

Sailing in a storm should be avoided due to the lack of safety. However, experienced sailors can sail in storms up to Beaufort Force 7 if required. Beaufort Force 8 and higher storms are extremely dangerous to sail in and should be avoided at all costs.

How Do You Improve Safety When Sailing In A Storm?

To improve safety when sailing in a storm, wear a life jacket, hook everyone onboard up to a safety line or harness so they don't fall overboard, reef the sail to improve the sailboat's stability, and understand where all the safety equipment is onboard and how to operate it in case of an emergency.

What Type Of Storm Should Not Be Sailed In?

A sailor should not sail in any storm but especially a storm from Beaufort Force 8 to Beaufort Force 12 as it is considered to be too dangerous.

Can You Sail Through A Hurricane?

While sailors have successfully sailed through hurricanes in the past, sailing through a hurricane should be avoided at all costs. Sailing in hurricane weather is too dangerous and could result in loss of life.

What Are The Benefits Of Sailing In A Storm?

The benefits of sailing in a storm are:

• Improves sailing skills : Sailing in a storm will force sailors to improve their sailing skills and increase their ability to handle rough seas
• Exciting experience : For some sailors, the thrill of navigating through a storm can be an exhilarating experience that they enjoy. The adrenaline rush and sense of accomplishment of successfully sailing through a storm can be incredibly rewarding
• Greater appreciation for the power of nature : Sailing in a storm can provide a unique perspective on the power of nature. It can be humbling and awe-inspiring to witness the raw force of the wind and waves and this can lead to a greater appreciation for the natural world

It's important to note that these potential benefits should never come at the expense of safety. For the majority of sailors, it is smarter to avoid sailing in a storm and instead wait for the bad weather to pass.

What Are The Risks Of Sailing In A Storm?

The risks of sailing in a storm are:

• Boat sinking/capsizing : With high winds over 28 knots and waves and swells at heights over 8ft, there is a risk of the sailboat capsizing and sinking
• People drowning : High winds and high waves during a storm can cause people onboard to fall overboard and drown
• Loss of communication : Bad storm weather can cause the sailboat's communication system to stop working making it much harder to signal for help if needed
• Boat damage : Storm weather can damage the boat including the sails, mast, rigging system, lines, Bimini top, etc.
• Poor visibility : Sea spray, large waves over 8ft, and heavy winds over 28 knots can reduce the visibility to under 500 meters in some instances making it difficult for navigation
• People being injured : People onboard can get injured due to the increase and sharp movements caused by the storm

What Should Be Avoided When Sailing In A Storm?

When sailing in a storm, avoid:

• Getting caught sailing in the storm in the first place : Ideally, a sailor should avoid sailing in the storm in the first place by checking the weather radar and instead wait for the weather to clear before continuing their sailing trip
• Increasing the sail area : Increasing the sail area in a storm should be avoided as it can cause the sailboat to become more unstable and increase the risk of capsizing
• Not wearing a life jacket : Life jackets should be worn at all times when sailing but especially during a storm. Avoid not wearing a life jacket in a storm as there is no protection if someone falls overboard
• Not wearing the appropriate gear to stay dry : Sailors should avoid not wearing the appropriate foul weather gear to stay dry when sailing in a storm
• Not connecting the crew to safety lines/harness : When sailing in a storm, all crew on the boat deck should be
• Not understanding the safety equipment : Sailors should avoid not understanding the safety equipment onboard

How Do You Avoid Sailing In A Storm?

To avoid sailing in a storm, check the weather forecast regularly when going on a sailing trip to know when and where not to sail as the weather gets worse in these areas. If a sailing trip involves passing through a storm, wait in an area where there is no storm until the weather clears up in the storm area before continuing on the voyage.

What Are The Best Sailboats For Sailing In A Storm?

The best sailboats for sailing in a storm are the Nordic 40, Hallberg-Rassy 48, and the Outremer 55.

What Are The Worst Sailboats For Sailing In A Storm?

The worst sailboats for sailing in a storm are sailing dinghies as they offer little protection from the dangers of stormy weather.

What Is The Best Sized Sailboat For Sailing In A Storm?

The best-sized sailboats to sail in a storm are sailboats sized 30ft. and longer.

What Is The Worst Sized Sailboat For Sailing In A Storm?

The worst-sized sailboats to sail in a storm are sailboats sized under 30ft. as it is more difficult to handle rough weather and choppy waves in these boats.

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Wild Weather: Stories of sailing into the storm

Sam Fortescue separates sailors’ yarns from the real-life tales of weathering storms in the world’s great oceans.

Ask skippers about the worst conditions they’ve faced under sail and they’ll shrug. “A good sailor knows when to stay in port,” many will reply. When I ask circumnavigator Brian Thompson for his tips on staying safe in heavy weather, his first words are that modern weather routing and faster hulls mean no one need ever find themselves exposed to more than 35 knots of wind. And yet… He still tells a tale of surviving 70-knot winds and mountainous seas off Cape Horn. There are various reasons why a yacht might be caught in weather not of their choosing: gear failure, for one, or the pressing schedule of a chartered boat for another. Saying you’ve never been caught in bad weather is a little like saying you’ve never run aground: either it’s not strictly true, or it’s just a matter of time. The key is how to handle the challenge when extreme conditions overtake. Here’s how five very different sailors weathered the storm.

Yacht : Bahrain

Team : Pindar

Type : IMOCA 60

Built : 2007

Builder : Cookson Boats , Auckland

In the annals of ocean racing, there are few more storied names than that of Brian Thompson. He set a round-the-world sailing record twice and has circumnavigated non-stop four times – more than any other Briton. Since his first transatlantic race in his own 10-metre trimaran in 1992, he has sailed mainly in multihulls, but in 2011-12 he took on the ultimate sailing challenge: the Vendée Globe. This non-stop, solo round-the-world race was accomplished in an IMOCA 60 – a super-light, fast monohull that requires experience and concentration to push hard. Having already weathered the Southern Ocean, he didn’t react immediately when he received an unprecedented phone call from Race HQ warning of an approaching hurricane.

“I’d just gone around Cape Horn, passing Staten Island [Argentina] through a little 50-mile channel. It was blowing around 25 knots. I got a call from the race committee [relaying info from] a Chilean aeroplane passing overhead. They said: ‘I think you should turn around because it’s going to be 80 knots – much more than forecast. Go back behind the island and wait there.’”

Yacht : Velsheda

Type : J-Class

Built : 1933

Builder : Camper & Nicholsons

Despite her 86 years, Velsheda is still every bit the high-strung race boat that she was designed to be. And fortunately so, because her schedule of Mediterranean and Caribbean racing requires her to take on the North Atlantic regularly. Her young skipper Barney Henshaw-Depledge remembers one occasion when Velsheda was waiting for a weather window to cross from Horta in the Azores to Falmouth in the UK: “The forecast was showing a slow-moving low-pressure system and cold front approaching from the west. Once this passed us, we expected favourable conditions on entry to the Bay of Biscay.”

Henshaw-Depledge set off cautiously with a double-reefed main and staysail. “I plotted a more easterly course to gain some miles away from the approaching low. The associated cold front with the low-pressure system caught up with us after two days and in preparation we had changed to a trysail and storm jib, expecting wind up to 35 to 40 knots. We had a comfortable sail plan and were fetching along at 13 to 14 knots of boat speed – fast for our displacement hull.” But as morning came, and with the wind now gusting to 45 knots and whipping up big seas, Henshaw-Depledge felt that enough was enough. “I decided that the yacht [and crew] were sufficiently tired of barrelling along in a now substantial sea state and I opted to ‘heave-to’, which I’d never tried before on this yacht.

“We gybed over, held the storm jib on the high side, put the rudder to leeward, and trimmed the trysail accordingly for balance. With her long keel, we sat at a very comfortable angle to the oncoming sea and we waited four hours for the front to pass.” This age-old sailor’s trick bought time for the crew to rest as the boat’s motion calmed as soon as she heaved-to. “Later that day, we set one reef in the mainsail and the Yankee, then enjoyed good sailing conditions all the way into Falmouth,” he says. “After this experience, I would not hesitate to heave-to again should the conditions require it.”

Yacht : Salperton IV

Type : 45m Dubois sloop

Built : 2009

Builder : Fitzroy Yachts

Barry Houghton is no stranger to the Pacific Ocean, having had two sailing yachts built in New Zealand, which he sailed back to Europe. His famous Ed Dubois-designed sloop Salperton IV was one of these, and after cruising her in the region, he sent her on to the southern tip of Chile with the intention of exploring the Beagle Channel. His skipper during the crossing was James Johnson, who shares the story. “The weather hit us without warning, with winds of 50 knots,” he says. “We were at Point Nemo, the place on the planet that’s furthest away from land.” The boat was soon surfing down the huge swell, pushing on her top speed of 26 knots. “That’s when you’re not under control,” says Johnson.

A stuck batten pocket ripped the 579-square-metre mainsail during reefing and after wrestling it down and hoisting the staysail in its place, he says, “we still did 12 to 13 knots.” Calculation is needed to stay safe in these conditions. Too fast and the boat can lose control, but too slow is also dangerous. “We have to stay on one tack or the other,” says Johnson. “It’s the breaking waves that everyone worries about. When you can’t go quick enough, you can get swamped.” The crew took short three-hour watches on the helm, hand steering through the storm. There would normally be two or three on each watch to handle the boat, but during the really rough patches all hands were on deck. “It was quite impressive,” says Johnson. “I’m not sure I want to do it again.”

Yacht : Indigo

Type : 25m Simonis sloop

Built : 1996

Builder : Unknown

Malko Marchio now skippers large motor yachts, but he remembers a particularly fraught passage as a deckhand on a 25-metre sloop named Indigo . They were only a few days out of Cape Town, heading for the Caribbean, when they encountered mountainous seas. “The ocean was huge. It was as if we were sailing over mountains and then descending into valleys. It was an unreal sight. I recall once I had taken the wheel for my four-hour watch that when we descended into the trough it would get eerily still with no wind. Then as the vessel got to the top of the massive swell the wind would suddenly fill the sails quite violently and we would accelerate over the huge crest of the swell and then back down into the still trough.”

He remembers being told by the skipper to keep the spinnaker flying through the night watches, unless the wind exceeded 40 knots. At one point the wind jumped from 38 knots to well over 40 knots. When Marchio returned to the wheel after rousing the skipper, he remembers seeing the spinnaker stretched oddly in the lashing rain. “The next thing, we went flying over the crest of a wave and the bow pounded. I watched the spinnaker tear from the top all the way to the bottom. It was flapping around and there were some crazy sounds.”

The skipper sent Marchio and another crew member up to the bow to recover the spinnaker remnants. He remembers seeing the mate’s hand get tangled in the sail. “The wind inflated some of the spinnaker and the next thing, he was airborne with one hand still wrapped in the sail. I jumped to him as he hit the deck with his harness yanking him down. Just as I freed his arm, the spinnaker inflated and with a snap came fully tight. He almost had his arm ripped off, but we managed to get the entire spinnaker aboard.”

The boat made it to Grenada, with the hapless Marchio firmly in the skipper’s bad books. “For the next few days we had duties after our watches to sew the hole closed,” he remembers.

Yacht : Leopard 3

Type : 30m Farr Design

Builder : McConaghy Boats

As captain of various Leopard yachts for more than 20 years, Chris Sherlock has seen more extreme weather under sail than most. He holds the record for the fastest monohull crossing of the Atlantic from west to east – set in 2008. But one occasion stands out. He was perhaps 15 hours off New York at the end of an easy passage up from Antigua aboard Leopard 3 in 2009, when the weather took a sudden turn for the worse. “We were sailing comfortably with a J4 and trysail [prepared for] heading into a low before getting to Sandy Hook lighthouse and our entry to the Hudson River,” says Sherlock. “We were hit by white squall, where the wind violently rises within seconds, and it blew 78 knots,” he says with a shudder. “We lost the J4 sail [in a knockdown], and once we recovered, we quickly went to bare poles dropping the trysail.”

At first, they ran ahead of the wind, but even without a scrap of sail up, they still had too much boat speed. “Then the waves were getting too big, so we put the bow up a bit and found a comfortable [heading] that kept us away from the land.” Comfortable is clearly a relative term as the boat was still making 10 knots through the water. “She was even doing six or seven knots upwind with bare poles – around 70 degrees true. We were going too quick everywhere.” But the ordeal wasn’t over. “Paul Standbridge was driving, with me in the nav station, when a wave broke over the boat in a current eddy in the eye of the low,” he continues. “Paul could only see the mast, with water almost up to the boom.

This 100-foot supermaxi was fully swamped. He could see lights through the water, and everyone clipped on was floating above deck. From the nav desk it looked like a goldfish bowl through the hatch.” Sherlock remembers how the boat was nearly rolled at one point. “We had 40 degrees of keel cant on bare poles, then a wave caught us. I was in the nav seat and the boat hit 30 degrees of heel. At some point the bulb must have been in mid-air.” The conditions took a toll on the crew, if not the boat herself. Sherlock says he considered trying to make things more comfortable by heaving to, but there was too much wind to have any sails up. It lasted for several days before they could finally limp into port. “In my 300,000 nautical miles sailed offshore, without a doubt this was the toughest few days I’ve ever had.”

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Tornado likely sank luxury yacht off coast of Sicily, officials say, as search for survivors continues

Updated on: August 20, 2024 / 7:56 PM EDT / CBS/AP

Police divers resumed searching Tuesday for six people believed trapped in the hull of a superyacht that sank in deep seas off Sicily, including a British tech magnate who was celebrating his recent acquittal on fraud charges with the people who had defended him at trial.

Civil protection officials said they believed the Bayesian, a 184-foot British-flagged yacht, had been struck by a tornado over the water. The ship had been moored about a half-mile offshore off Porticello near Palermo when a storm rolled and the vessel sank at about 5 a.m. local time on Monday . 

Grainy film from closed-circuit cameras from shore, broadcast on the website of the Giornale di Sicilia, showed the majestic, illuminated 246-foot mast of the Bayesian weathering the storm and then disappearing over the course of a minute.

Fifteen of the 22 people aboard survived, including a mother who reported holding her 1-year-old baby over the waves to save her. One body was recovered, identified by officials as the Antiguan-born on-board chef. The rest of the 10-person crew survived, including the captain whom prosecutors reportedly sought to interview.

However, CBS News senior weather producer David Parkinson said Tuesday that it's still too early to determine whether the yacht was hit by a waterspout or a downburst. A waterspout is a meteorological term for a tornado over water, while a downburst consists of powerful winds that descend from a thunderstorm and can often be misinterpreted as a tornado, according to the National Weather Service.

As of now, Parkinson said, it's only safe to say that the yacht was impacted by a severe thunderstorm. Based on satellite imagery, there were strong to violent thunderstorms in the area where the yacht sank, Parkinson said.

That said, early Monday morning conditions were appropriate for either the development of a waterspout or a downburst, Parkinson explained. At around 4 a.m. local time Monday, the winds spiked, with wind gusts above 43 mph in Palermo. About 10 minutes later in the town of Aspra — which is 20 miles from Palermo and three to four miles west of where the boat sank — wind gusts of 51 mph were recorded, and the thunderstorms appeared to intensify as they moved east.

In cases of downbursts, when wind hits the water's surface, it increases the wind speed, Parkinson said. While at the time the boat sank, water temperatures were 84 degrees Fahrenheit, which would be warm enough to support the development of a waterspout, Parkinson said. 

"It's a great, great tragedy," said Britain's ambassador to Italy, Edward Llewellyn, who visited Porticello on Tuesday. Britain sent four investigators to the scene, given the disaster involved a British-flagged ship and British citizens were among the missing.

Fire rescue officials have said the six other passengers will be considered missing until they are located in the wreckage. They include tycoon Mike Lynch , who was once hailed as Britain's king of technology and was cleared in June of fraud and conspiracy charges in a U.S. federal trial related to Hewlett Packard's $11 billion takeover of his company, Autonomy Corp.

Also unaccounted for are Christopher Morvillo, one of Lynch's lawyers, and Jonathan Bloomer, a chairman at Morgan Stanley International and the former head of the Autonomy audit committee who testified in Lynch's defense.

The wreckage of the luxury craft is some 164 feet underwater — far deeper than most recreational divers are certified for and a depth that requires special precautions. Recovery crews could only stay for 12-minute shifts, a measure that slowed their efforts to reach the cramped inside of the wreck.

Karsten Borner, the captain of the Sir Robert Baden Powell, which rescued the 15 survivors who managed to get into a lifeboat, said he was close enough to be able to see the Bayesian as the storm came in.

"A moment later, she was gone," he said. "They said they went flat on the water and were sunk in two minutes," Borner added, quoting the survivors.

The rotating search teams, each made up of two specialized cave divers, worked Tuesday to open up access points to get inside the wreck. They were using a remote-controlled underwater vehicle, or ROV, to help in the search.

The divers hadn't been able to access the below-deck cabins because they were blocked by furniture that had shifted during the violent storm. Rescue crews said they assume the missing six are in those cabins because the storm struck when most would be sleeping, but the teams haven't verified their presence there through portholes.

Luca Cari, a spokesman for the rescue teams, said the search was proceeding much more slowly than another big shipwreck in Italy, the 2012 Costa Concordia cruise ship that flipped on its side off Tuscany's coast, because of the depth of the wreck and the limited space divers have to maneuver.

"That was much simpler. Here everything is more tight," he said.

The outing was intended at least in part as a celebration of Lynch's acquittal and a "looking forward to what was coming next," said Reid Weingarten, a Washington attorney and a member of Lynch's defense team who was not on the yacht.

"A lot of people went, a lot of people were planning to go and then of course this happened," Weingarten said.

Some of the people who stood by Lynch throughout the ordeal were on board, including Morvillo, the lawyer, who Weingarten worked with and said "was like a brother."

Morvillo's wife, Neda, is also missing, according to his law firm Clifford Chance.

Aki Hussain, CEO of international insurer Hiscox Group, where Bloomer, the witness, was chairman, said the company was "deeply shocked and saddened by this tragic event."

"Our thoughts are with all those affected, in particular our Chair, Jonathan Bloomer, and his wife Judy, who are among the missing, and with their family as they await further news from this terrible situation," he added.

Among the survivors, the Emslie family was released from Palermo's pediatric hospital on Tuesday where little Sofia had been kept overnight after her rescue. Her mother, Charlotte Golunski, had reported that she momentarily lost hold of the 1-year-old in the water but then managed to hold her up over the waves until a lifeboat inflated and they were both pulled to safety, doctors said.

The father, identified by ANSA news agency as James Emslie, also survived.

"They don't talk much, primarily because they consider themselves survivors and they don't understand why they survived given what they went through," said Dr. Domenico Cipolla, head of the emergency room at Di Cristina Pediatric Hospital.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Cipolla said Golunski had reported that she and the baby were sleeping in the cabin and suddenly found themselves in the water, where they also found Emslie who had been in a different part of the ship. Cipolla said the parents had been in touch with other survivors, who are being housed at a nearby hotel and were waiting for other family members to arrive in Sicily.

The baby slept well overnight and all were released after final checks Tuesday morning, he said according to a videotaped interview posted on Palermo Today, adding that psychologists had been made available.

Among the other survivors was Lynch's wife, Angela Bacares. Hannah Lynch, reportedly the couple's 18-year-old daughter, is among the missing.

The yacht's registered owner is listed as Revtom Ltd., according to online maritime database Equasis. Bacares is listed as Revtom's sole owner, according to corporate registration documents from the Isle of Man.

Its name, Bayesian, may be a reference to "Bayesian Inference," one of the two main approaches to statistical machine learning and the one that was used by Lynch's company.

The yacht, built in 2008 by the Italian firm Perini Navi, was carrying 12 passengers and 10 crew. According to online charter companies, it had been available for charter for about $215,000 a week and was notable for its massive aluminum mast, one of the tallest in the world.

The coast guard said to date there was no trace of fuel leaks from the wreckage.

In an unrelated event, Lynch's co-defendant in the Autonomy trial who was also cleared, Stephen Chamberlain, was killed Sunday when he was hit by a car while running in Cambridgeshire, England, said Chamberlain's lawyer, Gary Lincenberg.

• Boat Accident
• United Kingdom

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Passengers rescued from boat during storm on Hartbeespoort Dam

Around 100 passengers, including injured individuals, were rescued from a party boat caught in a storm last night..

A party boat carrying about 100 passengers, including some injured, was rescued from Hartbeespoort Dam during a storm last night.

The Hartbeespoort National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI), working with AfriForum Hartbeespoort, responded to an emergency call at 18:50, reporting that the Harties Party Boat was in distress in the middle of the dam with injured people on board.

“We were on alert due to gale-force winds in the area. We immediately activated our boats and arrived at the vessel soon after. Several injured passengers and traumatised children were transferred to the NSRI rescue boat and safely brought to shore at the Ifafi Aquatic Club, where Hartbeespoort Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) was waiting. AfriForum Hartbeespoort also assisted,” says Arthur Crewe of the Hartbeespoort NSRI.

Water had been flooding the party barge, and water pumps were used to remove it. The remaining passengers were towed to the Ifafi boat club at 21:00, and injured individuals were treated by paramedics.

“The NSRI commends the swift response and assistance from AfriForum Hartbeespoort and HEMS,” Crewe adds.

The incident is under investigation by the relevant authorities.

Read original story on kormorant.co.za

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