yacht stories reddit

The 5 tragic minutes that sank a superyacht

PORTICELLO, Italy — Survivors of a storm that sank a superyacht off Sicily recounted their ordeal to one of the doctors who rushed to their aid, with some saying it took mere minutes for the 180-foot ship to go down. 

Dr. Fabio Genco, head of the Palermo Emergency Medical Services, told NBC News on the phone Thursday that he arrived in the seaside village of Porticello before dawn Monday, about an hour after the $40 million Bayesian sank in the violent and sudden storm.   

Of the 22 people onboard, 15 survived despite storm conditions and darkness, climbing onto a lifeboat before being rescued by a nearby sailboat. The crew members have made no public statements so far, though some have been interviewed by investigators.

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

It appears they had just minutes to abandon the sinking ship, Genco said. 

“They told me that suddenly they found themselves catapulted into the water without even understanding how they had got there,” he said, “And that the whole thing seems to have lasted from 3 to 5 minutes.”

Giovanni Costantino, CEO of The Italian Sea Group, which owns Perini Navi, the Bayesian's shipbuilder, told Sky News that there were no flaws with the design or construction of the yacht. He said their structure and keel made boats like that “unsinkable bodies.”

In an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, he disavowed responsibility, blaming instead the actions of the crew. “Mistakes were made,” he said. 

Genco said one of his colleagues who arrived at the scene before him initially thought that only three people survived, but the coast guard reported there were other survivors and more emergency services were called in. 

When Genco arrived, he found scenes of panic and despair. 

“Unfortunately, we are used to such panic scenes because we are used to the shipwrecks that happen on Lampedusa ,” Genco said, referring to the island southwest of Sicily, where the wreckage of boats carrying migrants on the sea journey from North Africa to Italy are often found . 

Six of the passengers were declared missing Monday, and by Thursday, the bodies of five had been recovered from the wreck , some 160 feet underwater.

Among those who survived is Angela Bacares, wife of the British tech mogul Mike Lynch , whose body was recovered Thursday. 

Another survivor has been identified as Charlotte Emsley, 35. She told the Italian news agency ANSA that she had momentarily lost hold of her year-old daughter, Sofia, in the water but managed to retrieve her and hold her over the waves until a lifeboat inflated and they were pulled into safety.

Dr. Domenico Cipolla at the Di Cristina Children’s Hospital in Palermo is also part of a team of medical professionals treating the shipwreck survivors. He told the BBC on Wednesday that Emsley and her daughter, as well as the father of the child, who Cipolla said also survived, are continuing to receive psychological help. 

“Psychological support was constant and is constant even today, because basically it is the wounds of the soul that are the most in need of healing in these cases,” Cipolla said.

Genco also told NBC News that he was especially concerned about the child. “She did not understand anything. She was soaking wet and cold,” he said. 

Karsten Borner, the Dutch captain of the Sir Robert Baden Powell, a yacht that was anchored near the Bayesian, said by phone Wednesday that he saw a thunderstorm come in at around 4 a.m. local time (10 p.m. ET) Monday, followed by what looked like a waterspout, a type of tornado that forms over water. 

The International Centre for Waterspout Research noted on X that there was a “waterspout outbreak” off Italy on Monday, the day the Bayesian sank. 

“I turned on the engine and made maneuvers so that we wouldn’t collide with the Bayesian, which was anchored about 100 meters from us,” Borner said. “Then all of a sudden it disappeared. Then the wind calmed down, we looked around and saw a red flare.”

Borner said he got into his boat’s tender and saw a life raft with 15 people on it. Members of the crew were administering first aid. 

“I don’t know why it sank so quickly, but it may have something to do with the mast which was incredibly long,” he said. Questions have been raised about whether the mast was to blame for the accident as tall masts, even with the sails down, have more surface area exposed to the wind, which can contribute to tipping a vessel in a storm.

The CCTV footage that emerged Tuesday showed the yacht’s 250-foot mast, believed to be one of the tallest aluminum sailing masts in the world, lashed by the storm as it appears to tilt to one side before disappearing.

Claudia Rizzo is an Italy based journalist.

Claudio Lavanga is Rome-based foreign correspondent for NBC News.

Yuliya Talmazan is a reporter for NBC News Digital, based in London.

The global authority in superyachting

• NEWSLETTERS
• Yachts Home
• The Superyacht Directory
• Yacht Reports
• Brokerage News
• The largest yachts in the world
• The Register
• Yacht Advice
• Yacht Design
• 12m to 24m yachts
• Monaco Yacht Show
• Builder Directory
• Designer Directory
• Interior Design Directory
• Naval Architect Directory
• Yachts for sale home
• Motor yachts
• Sailing yachts
• Explorer yachts
• Classic yachts
• Sale Broker Directory
• Charter Home
• Yachts for Charter
• Charter Destinations
• Charter Broker Directory
• Destinations Home
• Mediterranean
• South Pacific
• Rest of the World
• Boat Life Home
• Owners' Experiences
• Conservation and Philanthropy
• Interiors Suppliers
• Owners' Club
• Captains' Club
• BOAT Showcase
• BOAT Presents
• Events Home
• World Superyacht Awards
• Superyacht Design Festival
• Design and Innovation Awards
• Young Designer of the Year Award
• Artistry and Craft Awards
• Explorer Yachts Summit
• Ocean Talks
• The Ocean Awards
• BOAT Connect
• Between the bays
• Golf Invitational
• BOATPro Home
• Superyacht Insight
• Global Order Book
• Premium Content
• Product Features
• Testimonials
• Pricing Plan
• Tenders & Equipment

The unexpected joys of sailing across the Atlantic

Three owners joined their superyachts to cross the Atlantic and found more than they expected in the vastness of the ocean, they tell Caroline White .

Crossing oceans is a necessity if you want to get your yacht to the good stuff on either side. But, of course, the owner doesn’t need to be on board – that’s what paid crew (or even a yacht transport ship) are for. The conventional view is that two weeks and 3,000 nautical miles of rolling Atlantic – with bad weather or a technical failure the only likely source of excitement – make the Atlantic milk run a chore, a bore, even a little frightening: a venture you’d probably want to get a pay cheque out of.

But three owners defied this received wisdom to see other possibilities in joining their sailing yachts across the pond, from Europe to the Caribbean. Ilia Rigas and her daughter Nepheli, owners of 50-metre Almyra II , started from Syracuse in Sicily, while Nina Vibe-Petersen, owner of 54-metre Parsifal III and 52-metre Q , started from Gibraltar on the latter. Both yachts left in November last year to arrive in St Barths.

“Our goal was to do a circumnavigation,” says Rigas. “This is the reason we bought a Perini . We thought okay, let’s do the crossing, let’s go to the Caribbean.” She was inspired, in part, by the poem Ithaka , by the great Greek poet C.P. Cavafy, about how the value of a great journey lies in the journey itself, rather than the destination.

For Vibe-Petersen, a physical ailment brought with it the impetus to seize the day. “I was planning to do it with my family, but nobody ever had the time. And then last year I broke my shoulder, and I felt so helpless. I was like, I have to do it now.  And then some of my friends said they would love to go with me – they’re not used to sailing at all, so that was exciting.”

In terms of prep, Vibe-Petersen stocked up on craft materials, while Rigas made sure they had a wealth of movies queued up – both on the reasonable assumption that they’d have long, empty days to fill. Nepheli, meanwhile, didn’t think too much about it at all. “I have a  few friends that have done it and some of them didn’t have the best experience,” she says. “So I shied away from really thinking about it or discussing it until I was on the boat. I was trying to focus on the moment and not overthink anything.”

Initially, at least, this trepidation was well-founded, as Ilia recalls. “The weather turned bad when we reached Gibraltar and some crew left us out of fear, leaving me in charge of the ship’s kitchen,” she says. “I had reservations about cooking for the crew and loved ones, but I managed to brave the situation, wading through the unfamiliar kitchen and huge waves with nothing but grit and determination. Even with all the uncertainties, I found some much-needed time to relax. I started practising yoga, walking on the treadmill, and looking at the sea’s vastness while listening to the white noise of the ocean.”

Vibe-Petersen and her friends also tried yoga on deck but, “we were just rolling around”, so they put on loud music and danced: “that was really fun”. The endless sea and sky, far from requiring distractions, proved hypnotic, even addictive.

“There’s no light pollution and the stars almost hang,” she says. “You think you can actually take them with your hands. It’s just so beautiful and so peaceful to be there – I think we got less sleep because we wanted to be up and see the sunrise, and then we also wanted to see the sundown.”

In the end, the crossing experience confounded apprehensions for the owners of both yachts. Rigas, who heads the sustainability department of a FTSE 250 energy company, usually has scant time alone with her thoughts. “Normally, I cannot concentrate because my life is so hectic but here, without anything else, I could focus; I could read a book, play backgammon, things that I cannot normally do in my daily routine. And that’s what I loved.” In effect, the difference in situation changed the way her mind worked, “Automatically though, without really making any effort. Because you’re there and you cannot escape.” She kept a journal for the first time in her life, and it helped her reflect on: “my needs, what gives me passion, and what brings me down in life”.

Nepheli planned to catch up on work during the long hours at sea. But instead, she ended up on night watches with her father. “It was very quiet,” she recalls. “You could hear nothing but the sea and the waves. You’re in the middle of the Atlantic so there’s not much to see at night, other than the stars. Sometimes the sea was shining from the plankton. It was the two of us – no one else around. There were times we were talking the whole time. There were other times that we were completely silent. It was amazing.”

In the middle of the Atlantic, owners and guests also spend considerably more time in close proximity to the crew than they would normally. “All of us had a lot of fun with the crew and they were very engaged – they wanted to give us a beautiful first [crossing],” says Vibe-Petersen. “When we were halfway they dressed up and we were [as is traditional] baptised in rotten food and eggs; we also had to swim when we were halfway with all the crew, and had a lot of nice talks on the watches. I think everybody enjoyed that very much and yes, we became very good friends.”

On board Almyra II the owners strived for a relatively egalitarian lifestyle. “We were trying to prevent a disconnect between us and the crew,” says Nepheli. “All of us did six-hour shifts to support the crew – on a boat going 24 hours a day, everyone needs to help. At the halfway point we had a big party on board, with a lunch all together. It was very important for us to have the sense that we’re in this together.”

What about when they finally arrived in the Caribbean – were they itching to jump onto a powder sand beach? “Normally when I come to St Barths I’m very excited,” says Vibe-Petersen. “But this time we were almost crying; we didn’t want to get off the boat again.” Similarly, Nepheli recalls waiting gloomily for customs to clear them into one of the world’s most beautiful anchorages. It is perhaps Ilia, however, for whom the crossing was the most profound experience. “I think when you know that it’s going to finish soon, this makes it more magical,” she says. “I learned to appreciate nature more than before, watching sunsets, the shapes of the clouds.”

The experience was so affecting, in fact, that she did it again. “On my first crossing it took a while for me to realise that I had started with the weight of my city burdens on my shoulders. I had let the problems of my city life, my business life and the crew life follow me onto the ship, inadvertently impacting my experience,” she says.  “I knew I wanted to cross again, but this time I wanted to do it all on my own. I left behind any responsibility, family or friends and embarked on my journey with the minimum-possible professional crew. By the second crossing, I felt content exploring and soaking in the different Caribbean cultures, ending the journey with the St Barths regatta. Having such an amazing racing experience made it all so much more memorable. I returned home alone, feeling energised and reinvigorated to take on whatever came my way.”

Throughout this second, pared-back crossing she was freer to do as she wished – she loved being out in the open, setting the sails, letting different music dictate her mood. “The repetition of my daily routine made me feel like I belonged, and I found myself laughing every morning. I savoured every ounce of time away from the pressure and guilt of free time found in the hustle and bustle of city life,” she says.

Aside from the thrill of adventure – exploring vast stretches of open water – this environment offers vistas and sunsets unlike any you can experience elsewhere. On a practical level, Rigas points out, a crossing tests a superyacht’s endurance, stability and navigation systems in the most extreme conditions. It also fosters team bonding and forges deep connections among those on board – no bad thing if you want to keep a well-loved crew for a long time.

She is evangelical about the experience, which afforded her self-reflection and personal growth. It could provide a valuable reset for busy owners before diving into a season in the Med or Caribbean. A superyacht offers plenty of experiences you can’t have anywhere else, and this, perhaps, is a lesser-known one. “I know people who have everything yet fail to connect with nature and themselves. It’s not about having; it’s about daring to take action and having a passion for life. Talking to interesting people and allowing their stories to inspire you to find new ways of living is what truly matters. Remember,  where there is a will, there is a way – excuses will disappear.”

It seems that while there may be spectacular cruising grounds on either side of the Atlantic, there’s plenty of good stuff in the middle too.

First published in the September 2023 issue of BOAT International. Get this magazine sent straight to your door, or subscribe and never miss an issue.

Sign up to BOAT Briefing email

Latest news, brokerage headlines and yacht exclusives, every weekday

By signing up for BOAT newsletters, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy .

More about this yacht

Available for charter, more stories, most popular, from our partners, sponsored listings.

Boat Story: Is the Thriller Show Inspired By Real Life?

Premiered in 2023, BBC’s ‘Boat Story’ is a thriller miniseries that follows a duo of broke strangers who are united by fate and unforeseen circumstances. It centers upon Janet and Samuel, who stumble upon something incredible — a treasure trove of packed cocaine worth millions. Thinking this could be a way to get them out of their penniless days, the duo agrees to sell it and equally split the money. However, things turn south as they encounter several interested parties and become entangled in the suspicions of some of the most dangerous criminals and the police.

Created by Harry and Jack Williams, the narrative is packed with tropes from the dark comedy genre; however, the miniseries is a through-and-through thriller. It is additionally assisted by comedic and drama elements, applying a more diverse theme to its surroundings. Due to its well-crafted plot and illustrations of incidents, many will wonder if the story is inspired by real-life happenings.

Boat Story is Loosely Based on True Events

Sibling duo and showrunners Harry and Jack Williams, known for their craftsmanship in shows such as ‘The Missing’ and ‘Baptiste,’ brought to life an over-the-top experience in ‘Boat Story,’ that’s only partially inspired by real-life events. In an interview with the BBC , Harry Williams explained, “The idea for ‘Boat Story’ came from having seen articles about similar things involving large amounts of drugs washing up on shores somewhere.” He further revealed that the series is an exception, as most of the shows they’ve developed had begun with just “a series of conversations” among themselves.

The show illustrates their actions and reactions to real-life inspired fictional events, or as Harry Williams revealed, “This one, was what would we do if we had stumbled across a boatload of washed-up drugs? We probably wouldn’t do what the characters did, which is try and sell them, but that would make for a less interesting series. Instead, we imagined what would happen should we have done such a thing.” The other half of the duo, Jack Williams, reiterated in the same interview that the development process between the brothers has always begun with a “what would you do if…” that blossoms into a plot constructed piece by piece.

Jack explained that, in most cases, they make their way out from a place of relatability. However, this particular show did not come from a familiar backdrop. He goes on to clarify that most people aren’t like the lead characters of the show. Most people wouldn’t do what they did. The sibling duo described ‘Boat Story’ as a “contemporary morality tale,” wanting to approach the show through the freshest route possible and seek a challenge while doing so. While following the route of originality, the creators focused on producing the show with the intention of concentrating on the narratives themselves and why they are being told.

Jack further remarked, “What we landed upon, was to make it a show about stories themselves, and why people tell stories and why people watch and enjoy them. There’s a meta layer to the whole show as well.” So it isn’t really so much the way it is made, but the way these stories are told. It introduces the lead characters, Janet and Samuel, who aren’t going through their greatest financial phases. Individually, their underwhelming lives leave much to be desired. The two are on the brink of desperation.

As fate would have it, they unexpectedly meet and stumble upon a conspicuous boat washed up on the beach. Within it lies bundles of cocaine worth millions. As an average citizen, one wouldn’t necessarily investigate further; it is likely they would leave it be or inform the authorities. It is quite well-known that where there are copious amounts of drugs, there’s always bound to be trouble. Janet and Samuel aren’t quite the regular sort in this case. They are fueled by desperation and its following traits, making them ideal candidates to probe the matter further.

Moral complexities apart, the show dives deep into the minds of people who seek more from their lives and those who are at the edge of despair. The boat, in this case, is a measure of escape from the mediocre and hard-up. The allure of the riches they could attain after selling the contents of the vessel, in the minds of Janet and Samuel, is far more potent than the drugs and their consequences. In the end, each individual’s mindset shines the brightest, with the lead characters driving the show with ample amounts of hopeless willingness.

While speaking about the writing process for a unique show such as this one, Jack Williams mentioned that a crucial part of the proceedings was keeping it “robust.” A clear indication of the intricacies they have pursued in the show, adding masterfully intertwined elements of humor, thrills, and drama. While at the crux of it, ‘Boat Story’ is loosely inspired by the real-life incidents of drugs washing ashore, it is actually an exploration of human reaction driven by desperation, which, in turn, is deeply rooted in reality.

Read More: Best Crime Movies on HBO Max

SPONSORED LINKS

• Movie Explainers
• TV Explainers

How a Russian oligarch’s $90 million megayacht landed in U.S. custody

Scroll to continue

Over the past 20 years, the use of economic sanctions has exploded. The United States now targets more than 15,000 individuals, businesses and governments, imposing penalties that affect roughly one-third of all nations on Earth.

But how do sanctions work? Let’s follow the path of one Russian yacht to its seizure in Mallorca.

A sanctions program starts when the president determines there is a threat to the U.S. economy, foreign policy or national security — in this case, Russia’s 2014 invasion of Ukraine, seizure of Crimea and other activities abroad. White House aides then direct the Treasury Department to start looking for targets connected to that threat. With Russia, potential targets included billionaires accused of benefiting from the regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Among those billionaires was Viktor Vekselberg, a Russian magnate with assets all over the world. Soon after the invasion of Crimea, U.S. officials ramped up their investigation into Vekselberg, according to a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the government process.

Vekselberg’s assets included Fabergé eggs in London ...

... high-rise apartments in New York City ...

... and the Tango,

a $90 million, 255-foot superyacht equipped with a sky lounge, sun deck, “contra-flow pool” and outdoor cinema, among other amenities, according to media reports, yacht brokerage firms and Justice Department documents.

Why Vekselberg? Treasury later said it targeted the billionaire “for operating in the energy sector” of the Russian economy.

Treasury argued that Vekselberg and other members of the Russian financial elite should not escape “the consequences of their government’s destabilizing activities.” The U.S. has assumed broad authority to issue sanctions for a range of behaviors, trying to cast a wide net around what officials see as rogue regimes.

Vekselberg denied wrongdoing in a 2019 interview with the Financial Times and said he had resettled his family in the United States.

Once the decision has been made to impose sanctions, Treasury adds the target’s name to a public government database, known as the list of “Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons.” They did this with Vekselberg in April 2018.

Americans are legally prohibited from doing business with anyone on this list. Foreigners also can be charged with a crime or held liable by the United States if they do business with anyone on the list. This is what it means to be “sanctioned” — you get cut off by anyone who needs continued access to the vast global financial systems connected to the United States. The penalty can be applied not just to oligarchs, but foreign officials, banks and even government institutions.

Being on the list can create huge problems, even for a billionaire like Vekselberg. It’s difficult to move money and assets around the world without touching the U.S. financial system.

Banks in Europe generally will refuse to open an account for someone on the list. Vekselberg, for instance, probably can’t withdraw or remove funds on deposit with Western banks. (He technically still owns the money, but it is now considered “frozen.”)

Art galleries that work with Americans are likely to stop exhibiting his Fabergé eggs, because they won’t want to risk appearing to do business with a sanctioned person, said Adam M. Smith, a senior sanctions official in the Obama administration who is now at the law firm Gibson Dunn.

And if he wants something for his megayacht, he will have to figure out how to buy it without violating the sanctions rules. He cannot pay a marina, an insurance company or even a cleaning crew if the money has to move through banks tied to the United States.

Sanctioned targets sometimes try to evade the law by disguising their identities so trading partners continue to do business with them. Federal prosecutors say Vekselberg’s surrogates tried to hide the fact that they were working for him.

One longtime associate in Switzerland was accused of ordering embroidered robes and internet services for an imaginary megayacht named “Fanta” when he was really placing the order for the Tango. (The associate has denied the allegations.)

The U.S. government has been trying to crack down on this kind of sanctions evasion. And it’s hard to hide a 255-foot megayacht.

U.S. officials found that Vekselberg associates used U.S. banks to pay for maintenance of the Tango, including for a stay at a luxury water-villa resort in the Maldives in December 2020, according to an April 2022 news release .

The discovery allowed the Justice Department to link the yacht to alleged criminal activity and obtain a warrant to seize it. Prosecutors accused Vekselberg’s associates of violating the sanctions by carrying out transactions involving the U.S. dollar. A Vekselberg spokesman did not respond to a request for comment about the charges.

In April 2022, Spanish authorities and FBI agents took possession of the Tango in Palma de Mallorca.

It’s not clear that the seizure of the Tango has done much to disrupt Putin’s war aims. But the impoundment — and hundreds of other sanctions imposed since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014 and 2022 — have made life much more difficult for Russian elites like Vekselberg.

The Money War

The U.S. government is putting more sanctions on foreign governments, companies and people than ever. But these powerful tools of economic warfare can have unintended consequences , hurting civilian populations and undermining U.S. foreign policy interests. The Money War investigates the proliferation of U.S. financial sanctions and the dangers of overuse.

About this story

Animation by Emma Kumer. Design editing by Betty Chavarria. Photo editing by Haley Hamblin. Visual editing by Karly Domb Sadof. Editing by Mike Madden and Lori Montgomery. Copy editing by Jeff Cavallin. Project editing by Ana Carano. Additional production and support from Jordan Melendrez, Sarah Murray, Megan Bridgeman, Kathleen Floyd, Jenna Lief and Alisa Vasquez. Reference photos by Getty Images.